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THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT 


BY 

JAMES  H.  SNOWDEN 


THE  BASAL  BELIEFS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 
THE  WORLD  A  SPIRITUAL  SYSTEM 
CAN  WE  BELIEVE  IN  IMMORTALITY? 

THE  COMING  OF  THE  LORD 
IS  THE  WORLD  GROWING  BETTER? 

THE  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD 
A  WONDERFUL  NIGHT 
A  WONDERFUL  MORNING 

SCENES  AND  SAYINGS  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

A  SUMMER  ACROSS  THE  SEA 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE 

THE  MEANING  OF  EDUCATION 

THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

THE  CITY  OF  TWELVE  GATES 

JESUS  AS  JUDGED  BY  HIS  ENEMIES 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  LESSONS,  THREE  ANNUAL  VOLS. 


The  Making  and  Meaning 
of  the  New  Testament 


BY 

JAMES  H.  SNOWDEN 


gorft 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

3923 

All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


Copyright,  1923, 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.  Published  October,  1923. 


BROWN  BROTHERS,  LINOTYPER§ 
NEW  YORK 


The  words  that  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and 
they  are  life. — Jesus. 

Religion  cannot  be  said  to  have  made  a  bad  choice  in 
pitching  on  this  Man  as  an  ideal  representative  and  guide 
to  humanity ;  nor  even  now,  would  it  be  easy,  even  for 
an  unbeliever,  to  find  a  better  translation  of  the  rule  of 
virtue  from  the  abstract  into  the  concrete,  than  the  en¬ 
deavor  so  to  live  that  Christ  would  approve  our  life. — 
John  Stuart  Mill. 

Look  on  our  divinest  Symbol :  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and 
His  life  and  His  biography  and  what  followed  therefrom. 
Higher  has  the  human  thought  not  yet  reached;  this  is 
Christianity  and  Christendom,  a  symbol  of  quite  peren¬ 
nial,  infinite  character :  whose  significance  will  ever  de¬ 
mand  to  be  anew  inquired  into  and  anew  made  manifest. 
— Carlyle. 

I  thoroughly  believe  in  a  university  education  for  both 
men  and  women ;  but  I  believe  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
Bible  without  a  college  education  is  more  valuable  than 
a  college  course  without  the  Bible.  For  in  the  Bible  we 
have  profound  thought  beautifully  expressed ;  we  have 
the  nature  of  boys  and  girls,  of  men  and  women,  more 
accurately  charted  than  in  the  works  of  any  modern 
novelist  or  playwright.  You  can  learn  more  about  human 
nature  by  reading  the  Bible  than  by  living  in  New  York. 
— William  Lyon  Phelps. 

All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is 
profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  in  righteousness;  that  the  man  of  God  may 
be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works. 
— Paul. 


INTRODUCTION 


BOOKS  AND  THE  BOOK 

Books  are  boats  loaded  with  cargoes  of  ideas,  the  most 
valuable  goods  and  vital  wealth  in  the  world.  They  come 
floating  down  the  stream  of  time,  it  may  be  from  distant 
days  and  far  lands  and  various  climes,  and  bring  us  freight 
infinitely  more  precious  than  the  silks  of  India,  or  the 
spices  of  Araby,  or  all  the  ivory  and  diamonds  and  gold 
of  Africa.  Yet  are  they  so  plentiful  and  cheap  that  no 
one  is  so  poor  but  may  be  rich  in  this  treasure. 

Books  are  the  fossilized  brains  of  thinkers  that  are  gone. 
The  ideas  that  glowed  in  Plato’s  luminous  brain  or  soared 
in  Shakespeare’s  imperial  imagination  kindle  their  fires 
or  spread  their  wings  in  our  minds  and  hearts.  They  are 
vital  arteries  through  which  the  thoughts  and  deeds,  visions 
and  victories  of  men  of  genius  pour  into  us  and  throb  in 
our  pulses.  They  crowd  the  glorious  consciousness  of  these 
gifted  souls  into  our  minds  so  that  we  see  through  their 
eyes  and  think  with  their  thoughts  and  are  strong  with 
their  strength  and  rise  on  the  wings  of  their  spirits. 

Words,  the  first  and  oldest  human  invention,  are  still 
the  most  magical  things  in  the  world,  incomparably  sur¬ 
passing  all  our  modern  wonders.  Loom  and  locomotive, 
telephone  and  wireless  radio  are  small  achievements  com¬ 
pared  with  the  wizardy  of  words.  The  sign  which  consists 
of  only  a  few  strokes  of  a  pen  or  a  mere  puff  of  breath  yet 
comes  nearer  to  being  the  incarnation  of  the  soul  and  the 
very  life  of  the  spirit  than  any  other  device  of  man.  It 
distills  and  condenses  and  crystallizes  the  living  content 
of  one  soul  and  transports  it  to  and  dissolves  it  in  another 
so  that  two  minds  think  the  same  thought  and  two  hearts 
beat  as  one.  A  single  word  may  thus  diffuse  ideas  around 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION 


the  world,  compel  multitudes  to  think  and  act  together, 
and  shape  the  history  of  coming  centuries. 

Beware  of  a  word:  a  thousand  thinkers  and  a  hundred 
generations  and  countless  heroes  and  martyrs  may  have 
distilled  their  life-blood  into  it,  and  at  its  call  they  may 
awake  and  come  forth  to  fight  for  it  and  with  it.  It  may 
seem  impalpable  and  impotent  as  so  much  empty  air,  but 
its  few  innocent-looking  letters  may  contain  more  con¬ 
densed  potency  than  all  the  dynamite  on  the  planet.  It 
may  unify  and  electrify  a  nation,  make  a  million  bayonets 
think  and  conquer  the  world.  The  simple  word  democracy 
has  in  modern  times  put  kings  out  of  business,  overturned 
all  despotic  thrones  and  uprooted  some  of  the  most  ancient 
special  privileges  and  most  sacrosanct  customs  among  men. 
The  sceptres  of  kings  and  emperors  are  puny  playthings 
compared  with  these  magic  wands. 

Books  are  battalions  of  words  that  in  their  massed  might 
are  charged  with  mysterious  and  almost  miraculous  power 
of  molding  and  merging  many  and  even  millions  of  minds 
into  one  thought  and  purpose  and  life.  They  resurrect  the 
past,  create  the  present  and  foreordain  the  future.  They 
are  the  great  university  and  contain  all  ideas  and  visions 
and  carry  in  their  bosoms  the  promise  and  potency  of  all 
achievements. 

Of  all  the  books  in  the  world  the  Bible  is  incomparably 
the  greatest  and  best.  It  was  slowly  produced,  as  diamonds 
are  distilled  and  crystallized  atom  by  atom,  through  a  thou¬ 
sand  years  at  the  convergent  and  crowded  crossroads  of 
the  ancient  world  where  all  civilizations  and  languages  and 
religions  met  and  flowed  into  it.  Not  only  was  Palestine 
compressed  into  its  pages,  but  so  also  were  Babylon  and 
Egypt  and  Greece  and  Rome.  All  the  world  was  taxed 
and  rifled  of  its  treasures  to  compose  and  enrich  it.  A 
great  many-sided  literature  of  the  most  gifted  people 
religiously,  it  is  the  expressed  essence  of  their  history  and 
experience.  Historian  and  psalmist,  prophet  and  poet 
emblazoned  its  pages  with  their  pictures  of  the  march  of 
God  through  time,  tossing  impenitent  nations  out  of  his 
path,  and  with  the  most  glorious  visions  and  colors  of 
their  inspired  imagination.  The  Hebrew  was  the  most 
richly  endowed  child  of  God  and  yet  also  was  the  most 


INTRODUCTION 


IX 


wilful  and  wayward  and  passed  through  the  deepest  waters 
and  the  fiercest  fires.  He  poured  his  burning,  throbbing 
soul  into  this  book  so  that  it  flames  with  his  ardent  dreams 
and  hopes,  is  jubilant  with  his  joyous  triumphs,  smeared 
and  stained  with  his  sins  and  tears,  darkened  with  his 
tragedies,  and  sobs  with  his  sorrows. 

No  other  book  is  so  varied  and  picturesque  and  colorful, 
so  surcharged  and  saturated  with  the  distilled  essence  of 
human  nature,  so  woven  of  the  very  palpitating  fibres  of 
the  human  soul.  It  is  at  once  the  most  human  and  the 
most  divine  book  in  all  the  vast  library  of  the  world’s 
books;  and  like  an  old  rose  jar  it  will  ever  retain  and 
emit  its  precious  divine  aroma;  out  of  its  ancient  moss- 
covered  rock  will  ever  gush  forth  living  streams  of  life. 
It  has  been  and  is  the  most  prolific  soil  and  seed-bed  of 
other  books,  and  out  of  it  have  grown  vast  forests  of 
literature.  It  can  never  pass  out  of  human  interest  and 
become  obsolete,  any  more  than  can  the  majesty  of  moun¬ 
tains  and  the  mystery  of  the  sea,  the  beauty  of  the  Par¬ 
thenon,  the  plays  of  Shakespeare,  or  the  soul  of  Lincoln. 
It  is  rooted  in  the  religious  nature  of  man  and  will  endure 
as  one  of  the  permanent  and  perennial  interests  and  values 
of  our  human  world. 

The  New  Testament  is  the  best  part  of  this  greatest 
and  best  book.  The  New  is  the  blossom  and  fruit  of 
which  the  Old  is  the  root.  It  contains  the  most  precious 
truth  distilled  out  of  the  richest  and  most  sensitive 
spiritual  souls  and  brings  it  to  our  minds  and  dissolves 
it  in  our  hearts.  It  comes  to  us  out  of  the  greatest 
period  of  human  history,  the  First  Century  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Era  which  still  overtops  all  the  centuries.  It  is 
full  of  picturesque  scenes  and  stirring  stories  and  dra¬ 
matic  moments.  It  grows  out  of  a  great  background  and 
is  full  of  great  biographies.  It  is  written  in  everyday 
speech  in  simple  words  level  to  the  common  people  and  to 
children,  and  the  simplicity  and  beauty  and  majesty  and 
music  of  its  style  have  been  the  charm  and  praise  of  all 
the  Christian  centuries.  Translated  into  no  fewer  than 
seven  hundred  and  seventy  languages  no  other  book  has 
come  near  it  in  circulation  over  the  entire  globe.  It  is 
read  on  every  continent  and  island  and  is  incomparably 


X 


INTRODUCTION 


the  best  seller  in  the  world  today.  It  is  a  profound  book 
in  whose  depths  scholars  may  lose  themselves,  and  yet  it 
is  a  popular  book  and  the  common  people  read  it  gladly. 

It  is  a  highly  composite  book,  produced  by  many  writers 
and  containing  various  kinds  of  literature,  history  and 
doctrine,  gospel  and  epistle,  parable  and  prose-poem  and 
panoramic  apocalypse,  and  yet  it  blends  this  wide  variety 
into  a  rich  unity.  Woven  of  many  notes  and  chords  and 
melodies,  it  yet  all  melts  into  harmony  and  makes  one 
music.  It  gathered  honey  from  all  the  fields  and  flowers 
of  the  ancient  world.  It  considered  nothing  human  foreign 
to  it  and  taxed  all  the  world  for  its  own  enrichment.  An 
Oriental  book,  it  is  yet  equally  understood  in  the  Occident. 
It  crosses  all  continental  and  racial  and  linguistic  lines  and 
is  everywhere  familiarly  at  home.  While  deeply  colored 
with  the  soil  and  ideas  and  customs  of  Palestine  its  pic¬ 
tures  are  true  to  the  life  of  every  land.  It  speaks  to  the 
universal  human  soul  and  sweeps  all  the  mystic  chords  of 
the  human  heart.  Never  can  it  grow  old  and  out  of  date, 
nor  can  custom  ever  stale  its  perennial  freshness  and  in¬ 
finite  variety.  One  of  the  oldest  books  which  we  know,  it 
is  yet  one  of  the  most  modern  and  matches  and  meets  all 
the  experiences  and  needs  of  our  day  and  life. 

All  its  lights  are  thrown  upon  its  central  Figure  and 
supreme  Personality.  It  sets  in  its  frame  a  Portrait  unique 
and  unapproachable  in  all  other  literature  which  no  human 
pen  ever  produced  out  of  imagination  or  myth,  but  which 
was  simply  drawn  from  life  and  brings  us  face  to  face 
with  the  living  Reality.  So  realistic  and  modern  is  the 
Picture  that  Jesus  seems  to  step  right  out  of  these  pages 
into  our  homes  and  streets  and  marts  and  all  our  life. 

The  New  Testament  is  an  intensely  human  book,  and 
yet  it  is  none  the  less  but  all  the  more  divine.  It  is  not 
easy  to  separate  and  define  this  divine  element,  just  as  it 
is  not  easy  or  possible  to  draw  the  dividing  line  between 
the  human  and  the  divine  in  providence  or  in  our  own  con¬ 
sciousness.  But  this  divine  element  is  present  as  a  golden 
thread  woven  into  all  its  web,  or  as  a  flame  that  burns 
all  the  way  through  it,  or  as  a  relish  that  is  found  in  all 
its  pages.  The  book  is  earthly  clay  fused  with  celestial 
fire,  human  flesh  filled  with  divine  spirit.  Its  vessel  is 


INTRODUCTION 


xi 


earthen,  but  its  treasure  is  heavenly.  The  breath  of  God 
is  blowing  through  this  book:  nothing  else  will  explain  it. 

To  know  this  book  is  in  itself  an  education.  It  broadens 
the  brain,  kindles  the  imagination,  purifies  the  heart  and 
transforms  the  life.  More  than  any  other  book  it  has 
shaped  and  colored  the  history  of  these  nineteen  Christian 
centuries,  and  with  every  cycle  of  the  sun  it  is  infiltrating 
its  teaching  and  spirit  more  deeply  into  the  highest  and 
finest  civilization.  But  as  yet  it  is  sadly  true  that  only 
dimly  and  slightly  is  its  light  seen  and  its  power  felt  and 
its  truth  transmuted  into  life,  and  its  great  days  and  deeds 
are  yet  to  come. 

There  is  vastly  more  light  to  break  out  of  this  book. 
Countless  seeds  and  innumerable  harvests  yet  slumber  in 
its  soil.  When  these  seeds  have  been  sown  around  the 
world  and  are  sprouting  on  every  shore  and  blossoming  in 
every  heart,  when  all  its  truth  has  been  turned  into  bread 
and  assimilated  into  the  life-blood  of  the  race  it  will  be 
seen  and  experienced  that  its  words  are  spirit  and  life. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PART  I 

THE  BACKGROUND  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


CHAP. 

Introduction . 

I.  The  Jewish  Background . 

1.  The  Land  of  Palestine  ..... 

2.  The  Jewish  People  ...... 

(1)  The  History  of  the  Jews  .  .  .  . 

(2)  Racial  Characteristics  of  the  Jews 

(3)  The  Religious  Nature  of  the  Jews 

3.  The  Old  Testament  ...... 

4.  Conditions  in  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ 

(1)  Political  Conditions  . 

(2)  The  Religious  Worship  and  Life  of  the  Jews 

(3)  Religious  Parties  among  the  Jews 

(4)  Religious  Doctrines  of  Judaism 

II.  The  Greek  Background . 

1.  The  Greek  Genius  ...... 

2.  The  Spread  of  Greek  Civilization 

3.  The  Greek  Language  .  .  .  .  . 

4.  Greek  Contributions  to  the  New  Testament 

HI.  The  Roman  Background  . 

1.  The  Roman  Genius  ...... 

2.  The  Roman  Empire  .  .  .  .  . 

3.  Pagan  Religions  in  the  Roman  Empire 

4.  Roman  Contributions  to  the  New  Testament 

IV.  The  Fulness  of  Time . 


vii 

page 

3 

3 

6 

6 

8 

9 

11 

14 

14 

15 

19 

20 
22 
22 

23 

24 
26 

29 

29 

30 

31 
33 
35 


PART  II 

THE  BOOKS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


I.  Introduction  . . 41 

II.  General  Characteristics  of  the  Gospels  .  .  44 

1.  The  Historicity  of  the  Gospels  ....  44 

2.  The  Interrelations  of  the  Gospels  ...  47 

3.  Can  the  Gospels  Be  Harmonized?  ...  50 


xiii 


xiv  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

4.  The  Dates  of  the  Gospels  .....  53 

5.  Why  Four  Gospels? . 55 

6.  Miracles  in  the  Gospels  .....  56 

7.  The  Chronology  and  Outline  of  Events  of  the 

Life  of  Jesus  ......  59 

(1)  Chronology . 59 

(2)  Outline  of  Events  .....  59 

III.  The  Foub  Gospels  ......  62 

1.  The  Gospel  According  to  Matthew  ...  62 

(1)  Authorship  ......  62 

(2)  Characteristics  .....  63 

(3)  Contents  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  64 

2.  The  Gospel  According  to  Mark  .  .  .  66 

(1)  Authorship  ......  66 

(2)  Characteristics  ......  67 

(3)  Contents  .  68 

3.  The  Gospel  According  to  Luke  ....  69 

(1)  Authorship  ......  69 

(2)  Purpose  and  Characteristics  ...  69 

(3)  The  Preface  ......  70 

(4)  Contents  .......  72 

4.  The  Gospel  According  to  John  ...  73 

(1)  Authorship  and  Date  ....  73 

(2)  Purpose  and  Characteristics  ...  74 

(3)  Contents  .......  75 

IV.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul  77 

I.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  .....  77 

(1)  Authorship  and  Date  ....  77 

(2)  Purpose  and  Characteristics  ...  77 

(3)  Contents  .......  80 

II.  The  Epistles  of  Paul  .....  80 

(1)  Authorship  ......  80 

(2)  Circumstances  and  Characteristics  of  the 

Epistles  .......  81 

(3)  Chronology  of  Paul’s  Life  and  Letters  .  83 

(4)  Contents  of  the  Epistles  ....  84 

Romans  .......  84 

I  and  II  Corinthians  ....  85 

Galatians  .......  86 

Ephesians  .......  88 

Philippians  ......  89 

Colossians  .......  90 

I  and  II  Thessalonians  ....  90 

I  and  II  Timothy  .....  92 

Titus  ........  94 

Philemon  .......  94 

(5)  Review  of  the  Epistles  ....  95 

V.  The  Catholic  Epistles  and  Revelation  .  .  99 

Hebrews  .......  99 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

XV 

CHAP. 

PAGE 

James  .  .  r#! 

• 

• 

• 

• 

101 

I  and  II  Peter  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

102 

I  and  II  and  III  John 

• 

* 

• 

• 

103 

Jude  .... 

• 

• 

• 

• 

104 

Revelation  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

105 

VI.  The  Canon  and  Transmission  of  the  New  Testament 

107 

1. 

The  Canon 

• 

• 

« 

• 

107 

2. 

Manuscripts 

• 

• 

• 

• 

108 

3. 

Translations 

• 

• 

• 

• 

109 

PAET  III 

THE  LIFE  OF  JESUS. 


I.  Introduction  . . 115 

II.  The  Thirty  Silent  Years  .....  117 

1.  The  Genealogy  of  Jesus  .....  117 

2.  A  Holy  Mystery  Revealed  ....  118 

3.  The  Birth  in  Bethlehem  .....  120 

4.  Angels  and  Shepherds  .....  121 

5.  Worshipping  Wise  Men  .....  123 

6.  The  Childhood  at  Nazareth  ....  125 

7.  The  Carpenter  .......  129 

III.  First  Year:  Tile  Early  Judean  Ministry  .  .  131 

1.  A  Great  Revival  Meeting  .....  131 

2.  The  Baptism  of  Jesus  .....  133 

3.  The  Temptation  of  Jesus  .....  134 

4.  How  the  Kingdom  Started  to  Grow  .  .  137 

5.  Water  Turned  into  Wine  ....  141 

6.  First  Cleansing  of  the  Temple  ....  143 

7.  A  Distinguished  Night  Visitor  .  .  .  146 

8.  A  Convert  from  Low  Life  ....  148 

IV.  Second  Year:  The  Galilean  Ministry  .  .  .  152 

1.  A  Prophet  Driven  out  of  His  Own  Town  .  153 

2.  Preaching  and  Fishing  at  Lake  Galilee  .  .  156 

3.  A  Busy  Day  in  Capernaum  ....  158 

4.  A  Missionary  Tour  through  Galilee  .  .  162 

5.  Strange  Things  ......  164 

6.  Jesus  at  the  Pool  of1  Bethesda  ....  167 

7.  The  Choosing  and  the  Mission  of  the  Twelve 

Disciples  .......  169 

8.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount — The  Beatitudes  .  172 

9.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount — The  Lord’s  Prayer  175 

10.  Jesus  Heals  a  Centurion’s  Servant  .  .  178 

11.  How  Jesus  Dealt  with  John’s  Doubt  .  .  180 

12.  Jesus  Teaching  by  Parables  ....  184 

13.  A  Storm  on  Lake  Galilee  ....  187 

14.  The  Tragedy  of  the  Black  Tower  .  .  .  190 

15.  Five  Thousand  Fed  ......  192 


xvi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAP. 

16.  Jesus  Breaks  with  the  Pharisees 

17.  The  Interview  at  Caesarea  Philippi  . 

18.  The  Transfiguration  ..... 

V.  Third  Year:  The  Later  Judean  Ministry 

1.  The  Man  Born  Blind  ..... 

2.  Mary  and  Martha  ...... 

3.  The  Triumphal  Entry  ..... 

4.  Certain  Greeks  ...... 

5.  The  Lord’s  Supper  ...... 

6.  Gethsemane  ....... 

7.  The  Trial  ....... 

8.  The  Crucifixion  ...... 

9.  The  Resurrection  ...... 

10.  The  Great  Commission  ..... 

11.  The  Ascension  ...... 

PART  IV 

THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

I.  Introduction  ........ 

II.  The  Church  in  Jerusalem  ..... 

1.  The  Day  of  Pentecost  ..... 

2.  The  Martyrdom  of  Stephen  .... 

III,  The  Gospel  Sets  out  on  Its  World  March 

1.  The  Gospel  in  Samaria  ..... 

2.  The  Conversion  of  Paul  ..... 

3.  Peter  and  Cornelius  ..... 

4.  First  Council  at  Jerusalem :  Shall  Gentiles  Be 

Received  into  the  Church?  .... 

5.  The  Gospel  in  Antioch  ..... 

IV.  Paul’s  Missionary  Journeys  .  .  .  . 

1.  Paul’s  First  Missionary  Journey 

2.  Second  Council  at  Jerusalem :  Must  Gentile  Con¬ 

verts  Submit  to  the  Mosaic  Ceremonies? 

3.  Paul’s  Second  Missionary  Journey :  From  Antioch 

to  Berea  ....... 

4.  Paul  at  Athens  and  Corinth  .... 

5.  Paul’s  Third  Missionary  Journey 

6.  Paul  at  Jerusalem  and  Ciesarea 

7.  Stormy  Voyage  and  Shipwreck 

8.  Paul  in  Rome  ...... 

Index  of  Scriptures  ....... 

Index  of  Subjects . 


PAGE 

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265 

269 

269 

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283 

286 

289 

292 

299 

303 


PART  I 

THE  BACKGROUND  OF  THE  NEW 

TESTAMENT 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING  OF  THE 

NEW  TESTAMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  JEWISH  BACKGROUND 

Christianity  is  an  historical  religion  and  its  roots  run 
down  into  the  land  of  Palestine  and  back  through  Hebrew 
history  and  still  further  back  into  ancient  Egypt  and 
Babylon  and  then  out  through  the  wide  Gentile  world. 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  historical  docu¬ 
ments  and  follow  the  laws  of  such  records  in  their  origin, 
authorship,  •  contents  and  purpose.  They  sprang  out  of 
concrete  historical  conditions,  and  they  can  be  fully  under¬ 
stood  only  as  they  are  viewed  in  the  light  of  their  original 
environment. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  begin  this  study  of  the 
New  Testament  by  sketching  the  background  out  of  which 
it  grew. 

The  New  Testament  is  primarily  a  Jewish  book  and 
therefore  it  must  be  viewed  as  an  outgrowth  of  Jewish 
history. 

1.  The  Land  of  Palestine 

Palestine,  the  home  of  the  Bible,  is  physically  one  of  the 
smallest  countries  of  the  world,  but  historically  and  religi¬ 
ously  it  bulks  larger  than  some  continents.  It  is  a  mere 
strip  of  country  only  about  145  miles  long  and  on  the  aver¬ 
age  about  70  miles  wide  so  that  it  is  not  larger  than  some 
American  western  counties. 

It  runs  north  and  south  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  consists  of  four  sections:  the  maritime 
plain,  the  central  mountain  range,  the  Jordan  valley,  and 

8 


4  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

the  mountain  plateau  east  of  the  Jordan  bordering  on  tne 
desert. 

The  maritime  plain,  about  20  miles  wide,  was  originally 
the  land  of  the  Philistines,  from  which  word  was  derived 
the  name  of  the  country.  It  was  and  still  is  the  most  fertile 
part  of  Palestine. 

The  central  rocky  ridge  runs  up  through  the  middle  of 
the  land  like  a  spinal  column,  and  at  the  plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  which  cuts  across  the  country  from  the  sea  to  the  Jor¬ 
dan,  the  mountain  range  turns  to  the  west  and  buries  its 
rocky  roots  in  the  blue  Mediterranean.  North  of  the  plain 
of  Esdraelon  rise  the  mountains  of  Lebanon  and  Hermon. 

The  Jordan  valley,  or  gorge,  is  one  of  the  most  remark¬ 
able  chasms  on  the  planet.  It  is  a  geological  “ fault’ ’  or 
slip  in  the  rock  strata  of  the  earth  which,  at  the  deepest 
point  at  the  bottom  of  the  Dead  Sea,  is  2,600  feet  below  sea 
level.  The  Jordan  rises  in  the  mountains  of  the  north  and 
descends  to  a  small  lake,  the  Waters  of  Merom,  near  sea 
level,  plunges  down  in  less  than  nine  miles  to  Lake 
Galilee,  680  feet  below  sea  level,  and  then  descends  in  65 
miles  to  the  Dead  Sea,  1,300  feet  below  sea  level,  the  Dead 
Sea  itself  being  1,300  feet  deep.  From  the  summit  of 
Hermon,  9,000  feet  high,  to  the  Dead  Sea  is  a  fall  of  10,300 
feet  and  a  change  in  climate  from  perpetual  snow  to  tropic 
heat. 

The  plateau  east  of  the  Jordan  rises  higher  than  the 
mountain  range  west  of  the  river,  and  fades  out  into  the 
desert  sand,  and  is  the  region  known  in  the  New  Testament 
as  Perea. 

Palestine  is  thus  remarkable  in  the  range  of  its  climate 
and  vegetation  from  the  intense  heat  and  tropic  palms  and 
pomegranates  of  the  lower  Jordan  to  the  snow  and  the 
hardy  oaks  and  pines  of  the  northern  mountains.  Packed 
into  this  small  area  is  a  greater  variety  of  meteorology  and 
botany  than  probably  can  be  found  within  the  same  limits 
anywhere  else  on  the  earth.  It  is  a  crowded  museum  of 
geography  and  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  On 
account  of  this  diversity  it  abounds  in  picturesque  scenery 
and  magnificent  views. 

Palestine  is  now  generally  barren,  having  been  swept  of 
forests  and  being  meagerly  supplied  with  water,  but  in 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


5 


ancient  times  it  was  remarkably  fertile  and  produced  grains 
and  fruits  in  great  abundance.  Its  chief  industries  were 
farming  and  vineyards  and  olive  orchards,  and  fishing  on 
Lake  Galilee  which  was  incredibly  prolific  in  fish,  and,  in 
the  days  of  Jesus,  4,000  fishing  boats  plied  their  trade  on 
its  waters. 

The  principal  cities  and  towns  in  the  time  of  Christ  were 
J erusalem,  the  ancient  capital  of  splendid  renown,  near  the 
southern  end  of  the  central  mountain  range,  Capernaum 
on  Lake  Galilee,  Bethlehem  south  of  Jerusalem,  Samaria 
between  Jerusalem  and  the  Esdraelon  valley,  Nazareth  in 
the  hills  to  the  north,  and  Caesarea  and  Joppa  down  on  the 
Mediterranean. 

An  important  fact  about  Palestine  was  its  geographical 
and  strategic  location  on  the  highways  between  Babylon 
and  Egypt  and  between  Asia  and  Europe,  so  that  it  lay  at 
the  crossroads  of  the  ancient  world.  This  subjected  it  to 
attack  on  every  side  and  made  it  a  battle  ground  between 
the  empires  of  ancient  history;  and  as  the  main  trunk 
lines  of  travel  and  trade  ran  through  it,  it  was  exposed  to 
foreign  influences  and  absorbed  cosmopolitan  culture  from 
every  quarter. 

This  central  location  also  made  it  a  strategic  point  from 
which  it  could  radiate  its  light  out  in  every  direction  upon 
the  world.  Especially  was  this  true  in  the  time  of  our  Lord 
and  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity  when  Palestine  was 
in  direct  communication  with  all  countries  and  the  first 
apostles  and  missionaries  found  roads  running  out  to  points 
all  around  the  then  known  world. 

The  Jews  loved  Palestine  with  passionate  devotion,  and 
in  their  long  exile  from  it  they  have  ever  cherished  the 
desire  and  the  dream  of  returning  to  it  as  their  homeland. 
This  desire  has  survived  to  this  day  and  is  the  objective  of 
the  Zionist  movement,  which  has  acquired  new  strength  and 
practical  meaning  as  the  result  of  the  Great  War,  which 
after  many  centuries  has  thrown  Palestine  back  into  Chris¬ 
tian  hands. 

The  Bible  is  deeply  saturated  and  richly  colored  with 
Palestine  from  beginning  to  end.  It  was  the  promised  land 
which  for  centuries  lured  the  Hebrews  onward  as  the  star 
of  their  hope.  All  its  places  and  scenes  became  consecrated 


6  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

•  *■£•'.  .  .’;U 

and  dear  to  them  with  accnmnlated  sacred  and  patriotic 
associations.  Here  they  developed  their  religious  institu¬ 
tions  and  wrought  out  their  destiny  until  their  final  exile 
from  it  and  dispersion  among  the  Gentiles. 

Almost  every  page  of  the  Bible  reflects  some  aspect  of 
this  land.  Its  mountains  and  valleys,  springs  and  rivers 
and  lakes,  the  hot  desert  and  snow-crowned  Hermon,  the 
steep  rocky  roads  running  down  to  the  Jordan  and  the 
blue  mountains  of  Moab,  wheatfield  and  olive  orchard  and 
vineyard,  palm  and  pine,  flowers  and  birds,  all  the  vari¬ 
eties  of  climate  and  scenery  and  vegetation  that  are  crowded 
into  this  little  country  add  their  picturesqueness  and  color 
to  this  wonderful  book. 

The  New  Testament  was  bom  in  this  country  and  much 
of  it  was  written  on  its  soil.  Jerusalem  and  Capernaum, 
Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  the  busy  shore  of  Lake  Galilee 
and  its  fleet  of  fishing  boats,  the  plunging  Jordan  and 
the  blue  Mediterranean,  the  green  hillsides  and  flower- 
embroidered  plains  and  the  clear  Syrian  sky,  all  its  historic 
places  and  varied  scenes  meet  us  on  these  pages.  It  is  the 
constant  background  of  the  Gospels  and  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  still  the  most  sacred  land  in 
all  the  world  and  contains 


those  holy  fields, 

Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet 
Which,  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  were  nailed 
For  our  advantage  on  the  bitter  cross. 

2.  The  Jewish  People 

The  Jews  are  as  remarkable  and  unique  among  the 
peoples  of  the  world  as  Palestine  is  among  the  countries  of 
the  earth. 

(1)  A  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Jews  will  be  in 
place  at  this  point.  The  ancient  roots  of  this  race  run  back 
into  Babylonia  in  the  east  and  down  into  Egypt  in  the 
south. 

Abraham,  “the  father  of  the  faithful/ 1  a  member  of  the 
Semitic  branch  of  the  human  family,  is  the  starting  point 
of  the  race.  He  was  a  dweller  in  Mesopotamia  in  the  Eu¬ 
phrates  valley,  a  land  of  gross  idolatry,  and  he  was  called 
to  go  out  as  an  emigrant  to  the  west  that  he  might  be 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


7 


delivered  from  idolatrous  religion  and  worship  the  one  true 
and  living  God.  He  “ followed  the  gleam”  and  “went  out, 
not  knowing  whither  he  went,”  and  wandered  over  Pales¬ 
tine,  living  a  nomadic  life. 

Abraham’s  descendants  were  Isaac  and  Jacob.  Jacob 
and  his  sons,  under  the  pressure  of  famine,  were  forced 
down  into  Egypt  where  they  settled  in  a  state  of  servitude 
that  became  practical  slavery,  and  where  their  descendants 
remained  under  the  Pharaohs  during  a  period  of  about  400 
years. 

Out  of  the  bondage  in  Egypt  the  Israelites  were  deliv¬ 
ered  under  the  inspiring  leadership  of  Moses  and  were 
conducted  to  Mt.  Sinai,  where  they  received  the  Ten  Com¬ 
mandments  and  other  legislation  of  Moses  and  were  organ¬ 
ized  into  a  nation. 

After  forty  years  of  wandering  in  the  wilderness  the 
Israelites  entered  Palestine  under  the  leadership  of  Joshua, 
the  successor  of  Moses,  and  conquered  the  land  by  the  exter¬ 
mination  or  subjugation  of  the  Canaanites. 

The  period  of  the  Judges  extending  to  400  years  ensued. 
The  Judges  were  local  rulers,  and  it  was  a  time  of  unsettled 
government  and  insecurity  of  property  and  life  when  law 
was  loose  and  rough  customs  prevailed. 

Samuel  was  the  last  judge,  and  he  inaugurated  the  mon¬ 
archy  with  Saul  as  the  first  king  of  the  nation.  David 
succeeded  Saul,  Jerusalem  was  made  the  capital,  and  the 
kingdom  was  extended  over  the  whole  land  and  greatly 
strengthened.  Under  Solomon,  David’s  son  and  successor, 
the  kingdom  rose  to  its  greatest  height  of  power  and  splen¬ 
dor,  the  temple  was  built  in  J erusalem,  and  the  ceremonial 
system  of  worship  under  the  priests  was  established. 

Under  Solomon’s  son  and  successor,  Rehoboam,  a  weak 
and  insolent  king,  the  ten  northern  tribes  revolted  under 
the  leadership  of  Jeroboam  and  set  up  the  northern  king¬ 
dom  of  Israel  with  its  capital  at  Samaria,  and  the  southern 
kingdom  of  Judah  remained  with  its  capital  at  Jerusalem. 

A  succession  of  kings  followed  in  both  of  these  rival 
kingdoms.  A  few  of  these  rulers  were  wise  and  good,  but 
most  of  them  were  corrupt  and  wicked  and  many  of  them 
came  to  a  violent  end.  Idolatry  and  social  corruption 
developed  in  both  kingdoms,  though  the  southern  has  a 


8  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

) 

better  record  than  the  northern  kingdom.  This  degen¬ 
eracy  proceeded  in  spite  of  the  opposition  and  brave  words 
and  solemn  warnings  of  such  prophets  as  Elijah  and  Elisha, 
Amos  and  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah. 

The  Syrians  and  then  the  mighty  Asyrians  began  to 
attack  both  kingdoms  and  finally  both  their  capitals  fell 
and  their  inhabitants  were  carried  into  captivity,  Samaria 
in  722  B.  C.,  and  Jerusalem  in  568  B.  C. 

After  an  exile  of  70  years  in  Babylon,  remnants  of  the 
Jews  returned  to  Jerusalem  under  Zerubbabel  and  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  aided  by  the  Persian  kings  of  Babylon,  and 
rebuilt  the  city  with  its  walls  and  temple  and  restored  the 
former  worship.  The  exile  in  Babylon  thoroughly  cured 
the  Jews  of  idolatry  and  broadened  their  mental  horizon 
and  thus  prepared  them  for  their  world  mission. 

Palestine  fell  under  the  rule  of  Alexander  the  Great  in 
322  B.  C.,  and  continued  under  his  Greek  successors.  In 
167  B.  C.  the  Jews  revolted  and  regained  their  independ¬ 
ence  under  Judas  Maccabaeus,  and  maintained  their  na¬ 
tional  existence  until  65  B.  C.,  when  Pompey  captured  Jer¬ 
usalem  and  Palestine  became  a  Roman  province. 

At  the  division  of  the  Roman  Empire  into  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Empires,  Palestine  became  a  part  of  the  East¬ 
ern  Empire^  It  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans  in 
636  A.  D.,  and  remained  in  their  control,  with  brief  inter¬ 
ruptions  during  the  Crusades,  until  it  passed  into  the  power 
of  the  Turks  in  1516'  A.  D.,  where  it  remained  until  in  the 
Great  War  it  was  taken  out  of  their  hands  and  is  now  a 
mandate  of  the  British  Empire. 

(2)  The  racial  characteristics  of  the  Jew  stamp  him  as 
the  most  unique  and  persistent  type  of  man  known  to  his¬ 
tory,  and  his  checkered  career  and  manifold  sufferings  and 
tragic  fate  have  made  him  the  pathos  of  the  world.  His 
peculiar  physiognomy  looks  out  at  us  from  Babylonian 
bricks  and  Egyptian  hieroglyphics  and  Roman  monuments, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  most  distinctive  among  men  and  has 
endured  with  little  change  through  thousands  of  years.  No 
one  would  fail  to  pick  him  out  in  any  company  or  crowd. 

He  played  a  great  part  in  his  ancient  homeland  in  gov¬ 
ernment  and  literature  and  religion,  and  then  he  became 
a  wanderer  and  has  entered  all  lands  and  left  no  shore 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


9 


untrodden  by  his  foot.  He  has  been  an  actor  or  a  spectator 
in  history  since  it  emerged  from  primeval  mists.  He  has 
witnessed  the  rise  of  every  empire  and  then  has  seen  it 
decline  and  has  stood  at  its  grave.  There  are  few  fields  of 
achievement  in  our  modern  world  in  which  his  genius  has 
not  exhibited  its  versatility  and  power.  He  has  been  the 
best  hated  and  most  universally  persecuted  man  in  the 
world,  and  yet,  he  has  also  been  highly  esteemed  and  at 
times  greatly  exalted.  History  has  focused  the  light  of  all 
the  centuries  upon  him  and  there  he  stands  revealed,  some¬ 
times  wearing  the  purple  robes  of  wealth  and  distinction, 
but  often  clothed  in  rags,  crowned  with  honor  or  crucified 
on  a  cross.  Yet  in  spite  of  his  persecutions  and  poverty 
he  has  rarely  been  a  beggar  but  has  rather  been  the  banker 
of  the  world. 

The  most  ubiquitous  man  in  the  world,  he  has  been  every¬ 
where  and  seen  everything  and  absorbed  everything  into 
his  life  and  spirit.  Without  a  homeland  of  his  own  he  has 
made  himself  at  home  in  all  lands,  and  mingling  with  all 
peoples  he  has  yet  identified  himself  with  none..  He  has 
so  inwoven  himself  into  the  entire  web  of  the  world’s  civ¬ 
ilization  that  we  cannot  touch  a  single  thread  of  it  without 
involving  him.  Whether  we  are  for  him  or  against  him, 
there  is  no  escaping  the  Jew.  We  cannot  even  date  a 
letter,  newspaper  or  contract  without  doing  him  an  honor ; 
the  very  calendar  proclaims  his  central  place  in  history. 
The  most  rabid  Jew  baiter  and  the  bitterest  anti-semitic 
propagandist  bow  to  him  in  the  very  act  of  persecuting 
him. 

This  many-sided  and  wonderful  man  stands  in  the  back¬ 
ground  of  the  entire  Bible  and  especially  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment. 

(3)  The  outstanding  and  supreme  characteristic  of  the 
Jew  is  his  religious  nature.  The  peculiar  genius  of  a 
people  is  a  spirit  so  subtle  and  elusive  that  it  is  difficult 
to  catch  it  in  a  definition  or  cage  of  words,  but  every 
great  race  is  marked  by  such  a  spirit  which  it  is  easier  to 
feel  than  to  describe. 

Among  the  upstanding  peoples  of  the  past,  the  Jew 
obviously  stands  loftiest  and  purest  in  spirituality.  He 
specialized  in  religion.  He  was  not  a  universal  genius, 


10 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


but  his  nature  was  peculiarly  sensitive  to  the  things  of  the 
spirit.  He  stood  closer  to  heaven  than  any  other  man  and 
earliest  caught  the  light  of  eternity  and  reflected  it  down 
upon  and  out  over  the  world. 

The  Jew  was  the  first  to  see  the  one  true  and  living 
God  rising  above  the  multitudes  of  polythestic  and 
idolatrous  gods  that  crowded  the  ancient  world.  This  was 
the  gleam  that  Abraham  discerned  and  followed  and  that 
led  him  out  into  the  light  of  monotheism  that  finally  be¬ 
came  the  light  of  the  world. 

The  Jew  had  a  strong  sense  of  the  righteousness  of  God. 
Moral  character  bulked  larger  and  was  infinitely  worth 
more  in  his  sight  than  physical  might,  and  an  unethical 
god  was  abhorrent  to  his  soul.  His  fundamental  question 
and  faith  was,  “  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right  ?  ’  ’ 

This  J ewish  sense  of  the  righteousness  of  God  was  accom¬ 
panied  with  a  corresponding  sense  of  the  guilt  of  sin  and 
the  obligation  and  necessity  of  personal  righteousness.  The 
Ten  Commandments  comprise  an  ethical  code  unap¬ 
proached  by  any  other  people  in  the  ancient  world,  and 
though  falling  short  of  his  ethical  idealism  the  J ew  imposed 
this  divine  law  upon  his  own  heart  and  life. 

The  Jew  had  a  masterful  faith  that  trusted  God  in  the 
most  dreadful  day  and  darkest  night.  Though  subjected 
to  repeated  captivity  and  exile,  defeat  and  retribution, 
and  unprecedented  sufferings  and  sorrows,  so  that  more 
than  any  other  he  “was  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief,’ ’  yet  he  never  lost  faith  but  would  sing  songs 
in  the  night  and  exclaim,  “Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil:  for 
thou  art  with  me.” 

The  Jew  was  preeminently  a  prophet,  sensitive  and 
quick  to  catch  the  breath  of  heaven  and  the  light  of  God’s 
face.  He  was  ethically  the  most  susceptible  soul  in  the 
world  to  which  God  could  communicate  his  revelation; 
the  loftiest  peak  which  was  earliest  illumined  by  the  rising 
sun  of  inspiration;  the  most  spiritually  harmonized  race 
through  which  God  could  breathe  his  music. 

Therefore  it  was  that  while  other  races  were  endowed 
with  other  gifts,  the  Greeks  with  a  sense  of  beauty  and  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


11 


Romans  with  administrative  ability,  the  Jews  were  endued 
with  religious  sensibility  so  that  they  became  the  revealers 
of  God  to  the  world. 

This  spiritual  achievement  is  the  precious  and  priceless 
legacy  the  Jew  has  bequeathed  to  us.  It  has  fertilized 
and  enriched  our  modern  world  immeasurely  beyond  the 
contributions  of  any  other  people.  ‘‘If  it  had  not  been 
for  the  Jews,”  said  Romanes,  “the  human  race  would  not 
have  had  any  religion  worth  our  serious  attention.” 

The  soul  of  the  Jew  as  quickened  by  the  breath  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  the  soil  out  of  which  grew  the  Old 
Testament  and  blossomed  the  New,  which  contains  the 
ripened  seed  of  Christianity  that  is  now  being  scattered 
around  the  world. 

3.  The  Old  Testament 

All  this  history  and  genius  of  the  Jews  were  embodied 
in  the  Old  Testament,  which  is  the  literary  background  of 
the  New. 

The  essential  religious  history  of  the  Jews,  their  wander¬ 
ings  and  vicissitudes,  development  in  their  promised  land, 
division  and  captivity,  exile  and  return,  are  recorded  in 
its  pages.  The  Old  Testament  is  itself  a  highly  composite 
book,  not  only  containing  various  documents  older  than 
itself,  but  also  tinctured  in  its  teachings  and  colored  in  its 
pages  with  ideas  and  words  derived  from  other  ancient 
sources,  notably  Egypt  and  Babylon.  Our  fundamental 
religious  ideas  are  very  old  and  go  back  beyond  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  recorded  history. 

The  germinal  roots  and  the  growth  of  Hebrew  religious 
ideas  and  doctrines  and  ordinances  are  unfolded  in  the 
progressive  revelation  of  the  Old  Testament.  We  see  the 
Ten  Commandments  expanded  into  the  fuller  ethical  life 
and  legislative  enactments  of  the  law,  the  tabernacle  give 
way  to  the  temple,  and  the  simple  services  and  sacrifices 
of  early  ages  grow  into  the  elaborate  and  splendid  cere¬ 
monies  of  later  times. 

The  doctrines  of  God’s  unity  and  sovereignty,  spiritual¬ 
ity  and  righteousness  and  universal  Fatherhood  and  love 
and  providence;  of  sin  and  salvation;  of  growing  ethical 
obligation  and  social  responsibility  and  righteousness;  and 


12 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  expression  of  these  in  an  increasingly  elaborate  ritual¬ 
ism,  are  portrayed  in  these  books.  The  teachings  of  the 
great  prophets,  declaring  the  will  of  God  as  the  pre¬ 
eminent  preachers  and  statesmen  of  their  time  and  seeing 
splendid  visions  and  uttering  eloquent  words  for  all  time, 
are  conspicuous  in  these  records.  Especially  did  they 
catch  views  of  the  coming  Messiah  in  the  light  of  his  rising 
sun  as  it  fell  upon  their  inspired  vision  and  flooded  the 
whole  horizon  of  the  future  with  prophetic  glory. 

The  psalmists  voiced  the  aspiration  and  worship,  peni¬ 
tence  and  faith,  prayers  and  songs  of  the  Jews  in  their 
ancient  hymn  book  that  is  still  a  precious  treasury  of  sacred 
poetry  and  song  to  the  whole  Christian  world. 

The  lapses  into  unfaithfulness  and  sin,  the  sorrows  and 
tears,  and  the  retribution  and  tragedies  of  the  chosen  peo¬ 
ple  stain  and  color  these  pages  with  somber  hues  and 
mournful  beauty. 

It  is  true  that  the  Old  Testament  in  its  early  pages  re¬ 
flects  low  ethical  ideas  and  is  blotted  on  many  a  leaf  with 
the  barbarous  deeds  of  barbarous  days  or  the  wickedness 
of  a  corrupt  age.  But  this  is  because  it  is  an  honest  book 
in  its  records  and  starts  with  the  rude  civilization  of 
primitive  times  and  advances  through  progressive  revela¬ 
tion  and  purer  ethical  ideals  to  higher  levels  of  doctrine 
and  life;  and  in  the  New  Testament  these  lower  levels  are 
outgrown  and  left  behind. 

Taken  as  a  whole  the  Old  Testament  is  a  mass  of  national 
literature  that  ranks  as  one  of  the  richest  literary  treasures 
of  the  world.  Even  apart  from  its  religious  value  its  loss 
would  leave  a  large  and  irreparable  gap  in  the  library  of 
the  world’s  great  books,  and  its  spiritual  contents  and  its 
ministry  of  preparation  for  the  birth  of  its  more  richly 
endowed  child  make  it  one  of  our  most  useful  and  precious 
deposits  of  religious  experience. 

All  these  lines  of  history  and  doctrine  and  ritual,  proph¬ 
ecy  and  song,  led  towards  the  culmination  and  climax  of 
the  Old  Testament  in  the  New,  as  the  seed  leads  towards 
the  blossom  and  fruit,  or  as  the  dawn  ushers  in  the  day. 

The  New  Testament  roots  itself  back  in  the  Old  at  every 
point ;  all  its  fibres  and  rootlets  run  down  into  the  Old  and 
draw  their  nourishment  from  its  soil.  The  New  Testament 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


13 


derives  from  the  Old  all  its  essential  doctrines  of  God  and 
man,  sin  and  salvation  as  seeds  which  it  then  expands  into 
flower  and  fruit.  The  New  is  thus  concealed  in  the  Old, 
and  the  Old  is  revealed  in  the  New.  It  is  no  more  possible 
to  understand  the  New  Testament  apart  from  the  Old  than 
it  is  to  understand  the  second  volume  of  a  two-volume 
work  apart  from  the  first. 

The  supreme  connection  between  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New  is  that  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  prefigure  the 
supreme  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  and  the  Messiah  of  the  Old 
is  the  Christ  of  the  New. 

There  are  275  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
New,  which  are  so  many  visible  threads  directly  binding 
the  two  books  together,  or  roots  running  out  of  the  one 
into  the  other,  besides  the  innumerable  filaments  that  inter¬ 
lace  them. 

The  Gospel  of  Mark,  the  earliest  written  gospel,  opens 
with  a  quotation  from  the  Old  Testament,  so  that  the  new 
gospel  connects  itself  up  with  the  old  gospel  in  its  very 
first  sentence.  All  the  evangelists  and  especially  Matthew 
conjoin  their  gospels  with  the  Old  Testament  by  numerous 
quotations  from  it. 

John  the  Baptist  opened  his  ministry  with  a  text  from 
Isaiah,  and  Jesus  chose  the  text  of  his  first  sermon  from 
the  same  book.  Jesus  expressly  declared  that  he  came  not 
to  destroy  but  to  fulfill  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  he 
gave  a  new  commandment  which  he  affirmed  was  a  com¬ 
plete  expression  and  fulfillment  of  the  old  commandments 
of  Moses. 

Peter  preached  his  great  sermon  on  the  day  of  Pente¬ 
cost  from  a  text  from  the  prophet  Joel  and  declared  “this 
is  that,”  the  new  message  was  identical  with  and  the  ful¬ 
fillment  of  the  old  truth. 

Paul  wove  numerous  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament 
into  his  Epistles  to  show  the  continuity  of  his  teaching 
with  the  teaching  of  the  prophets. 

Christ  and  his  apostles  and  all  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  appeal  to  Moses  and  the  prophets  to  confirm 
their  teaching  and  to  show  that  they  are  simply  carrying 
out  and  fulfilling  the  Old  Testament.  And  one  New  Testa¬ 
ment  book,  Hebrews,  has  for  its  special  and  direct  object 


14 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  demonstration  that  the  old  dispensation  of  Moses  is 
more  gloriously  fulfilled  in  the  new  dispensation  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ. 

If  we  were  to  strike  out  of  the  New  Testament  all  the 
quotations  from  and  allusions  to  and  all  the  doctrines 
drawn  more  or  less  directly  from  the  Old  Testament,  the 
New  would  be  riddled  to  pieces  and  rendered  unintelligible, 
or  its  foundation  would  be  removed  and  it  would  fall 
apart. 

These  two  volumes  of  the  Word  of  God  are  indissolubly 
united,  one  principle  and  spirit  of  unity  pervades  them, 
one  heart  beats  in  them  and  one  spiritual  blood  courses 
through  them.  They  have  been  divinely  joined  in  the  his¬ 
tory  of  redemption,  and  what  God  hath  joined  together 
let  not  man  put  asunder. 

The  Old  Testament,  then,  can  never  fall  out  of  date  and 
become  obsolete,  but  it  is  still  alive  with  vital  spiritual 
truth,  and  it  is  necessary  as  the  soil  and  seed,  the  frame¬ 
work  and  background  of  the  New. 

4.  Conditions  in  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ 

The  conditions  existing  in  Palestine  in  the  time  of  Christ 
are  important  factors  in  the1  background  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment. 

(1)  The  political  state  of  Palestine  was  that  of  a  Eoman 
province.  The  country  fell  under  the  Roman  rule  when 
Pompey  captured  Jerusalem  in  65  B.  C.,  and  in  40  B.  C. 
Herod  the  Great  became  king  under  Roman  control.  His 
death  occured  in  4  B.  C.,  and  he  was  on  the  throne  when 
Jesus  was  bom. 

Herod  at  his  death  was  succeeded  by  three  of  his  sons, 
Archelaus,  Antipas  and  Philip.  Archelaus  became  king  of 
Judea,  but  was  deposed  in  6  A.  D.,  and  Pontius  Pilate 
became  procurator  in  26  A.  D.  and  was  in  office  at  the 
time  of  the  trial  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus.  Herod  Antipas 
became  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  Philip  became  tetrarch  of 
Perea. 

Palestine  at  this  time  was  divided  into  Judea,  Samaria, 
Galilee,  and  Perea.  Samaria  lay  between  Judea  and  Gali¬ 
lee,  and  the  Samaritans  were  the  descendants  of  the  mixed 
races  that  settled  in  the  region  after  the  fall  of  Samaria 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


15 


and  the  deportation  of  the  Jews  to  Assyria  in  722  B.  C. 
Because  of  these  racial  and  religious  differences  the  Jews 
had  “no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans,”  and  this  fact 
plays  a  part  in  the  New  Testament  history. 

Perea  lay  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  Jews  in  traveling  between  Judea  and  Galilee 
to  cross  the  river  and  thus  avoid  passing  through  Samaria. 

The  aristocratic  and  ruling  classes  of  the  Jews  mostly 
lived  in  Judea  in  and  around  Jerusalem,  the  capital  and 
the  seat  of  the  temple  worship  and  of  education  in  the 
two  chief  schools  or  colleges,  conducted  by  the  rival 
teachers  or  professors,  Hillel  and  Shammai,  and  the  center 
of  wealth  and  fashion  and  social  life;  and  Galilee  was  a 
rural  district  which  contained  no  large  city  and  was  in¬ 
habited  by  farmers  and  fishermen  and  was  provincial  in 
spirit  and  uncultivated  in  manners.  Judea,  however,  was 
more  conservative  and  traditional  and  less  open  to  pro¬ 
gressive  ideas  than  was  Galilee  that  lay  more  directly  on 
the  highway  between  the  East  and  West,  and  was  more  ex¬ 
posed  to  cosmopolitan  liberalism. 

(2)  The  religious  worship  and  life  of  the  Jews  at  this 
time  centered  in  Jerusalem  where  sacrificial  worship  was 
restricted  to  the  temple.  Herod  the  Great  had  built  this 
temple,  which  was  an  imposing  structure  with  marble  walls 
and  flashing  gilded  roof,  a  mass  of  snow  and  gold. 

The  temple  service  w*as  held  daily  and  consisted  of  bloody 
sacrifices  and  incense  offerings  administered  by  white- 
robed  priests  and  was  accompanied  by  an  antiphonal  choir 
composed  of  singers  and  players  on  instruments  and  with 
the  blowing  of  silver  trumpets,  and  altogether  it  was  an 
elaborate  and  splendid  ceremony. 

The  Jewish  sacrifices  were  of  three  kinds:  1.  For  the 
individual,  the  burnt-offering  (Lev.  1:2-3),  the  sin-offer¬ 
ing  (Lev.  4: 1-12),  and  the  tresspass-offering  (Lev.  5:1-6). 
2.  For  the  family,  the  Passover  (Ex.  12:1-27).  3.  For 
the  people,  the  daily  morning  and  evening  sacrifice  (Ex. 
29:38-46),  and  the  scapegoat-offering  on  the  great  day  of 
atonement  (Lev.  16:5-10). 

The  religion  of  Judaism  had  developed  beyond  the  sys¬ 
tem  of  the  Old  Testament  and  been  elaborated  and  hard¬ 
ened  into  a  system  of  legalism  which  had  grown  up  around 


16 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  law.  This  law  was  the  system  of  teaching  and  com¬ 
mandments  which  was  chiefly  contained  in  the  Pentateuch 
but  had  been  expanded  by  noted  rabbis.  Not  only  were 
the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Mosaic  law  bind¬ 
ing  on  the  people,  but  these  had  been  extended  and 
“ fenced’ ’  by  additional  rules  and  regulations  which  had 
accumulated  into  a  highly  complicated  set  of  minute  in¬ 
junctions  and  prohibitions  that  were  almost  impossible  of 
obedience  and  hampered  and  burdened  life  to  an  incredible 
degree. 

These  ceremonial  restrictions  of  the  most  complicated 
and  rigid  nature  were  spun  around  life  at  every  point.  The 
“washings”  so  often  referred  to  in  the  Gospels  were  not 
the  ordinary  cleansing  of  the  hands  but  were  religious  rites 
for  the  removal  of  ceremonial  impurity.  They  were  un¬ 
believably  numerous  and  meticulous  and  were  applied  not 
only  to  the  hands  and  body  but  also  to  the  dishes  and  fur¬ 
niture.  The  clothing  was  regulated,  especially  the  robes, 
and  the  phylacteries  or  leather  straps  with  small  boxes 
containing  prescribed  texts  of  Scripture,  which  were  bound 
around  the  arm  or  forehead,  were  also  subject  to  countless 
rules. 

The  Sabbath,  which  was  such  a  frequent  occasion  of 
friction  and  collision  between  Jesus  and  the  Pharisees,  was 
especially  hedged  around  writh  restrictions  that  made  it  a 
burden  upon  life.  The  command  to  do  no  work  on  this 
day  had  been  drawn  out  into  a  thousand  petty  prohibitions. 
“Grass  was  not  to  be  trodden  upon,  as  being  akin  to  har¬ 
vest  work.  Shoes  with  nails  were  not  to  be  worn,  as  the 
nails  would  be  a  ‘burden/  and  a  ‘ burden ’  must  not  be 
carried.  A  tailor  must  not  have  his  needle  about  him 
towards  sunset  on  Friday,  for  fear  the  Sabbath  should 
begin  while  he  was  yet  carrying  it.”  In  the  same  way, 
“plucking  grain  was  wrong  because  it  was  kind  of  reap¬ 
ing,  and  rubbing  off  the  husks  was  a  sin  because  it  was  a 
kind  of  threshing.” 

These  traditions,  which  were  elaborated  into  an  astound¬ 
ing  system  of  complexity  and  trivially,  acquired  an  author¬ 
ity  far  exceeding  that  of  the  law  of  Moses.  “It  is  a  greater 
offense,”  said  the  Mischna,  the  Jewish  book  containing 
these  additional  laws,  “to  teach  anything  contrary  to  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


17 


voice  of  the  rabbis,  than  to  contradict  Scripture  itself.  ” 
“The  Bible  was  like  water,  the  Traditions  like  wine,  the 
Commentaries  on  them  like  spiced  wine.” 

These  were  “the  traditions  of  the  elders”  with  which  the 
scribes  made  “the  word  of  God  of  none  effect”  (Mark 
7:13).  These  were  the  “heavy  burdens  and  grievous 
to  be  borne,”  which  they  laid  “on  men’s  shoulders, 
but  they  themselves”  would  “not  move  them  with  one  of 
their  fingers”  (Matt.  23:4),  for  they  resorted  to  all  sorts 
of  ingenious  subterfuges  to  evade  them. 

No  doubt  these  complicated  rules  were  invented  with 
good  motives  as  a  means  of  serving  God  more  minutely  and 
perfectly,  and  many  sincerely  pious  Jews  derived  good 
from  such  religion.  But  it  was  a  highly  external  and 
mechanical  system  and  could  assume  ostentatious  and 
pompous  forms  in  public  and  yet  inwardly  hide  hypocrisy 
and  pride  and  selfishness  and  even  gross  corruption,  a 
“whited  sepulcher”  concealing  “dead  men’s  bones.”  This 
danger  ever  attends  ritualistic  religion. 

Jesus  came  into  frequent  collision  with  this  ritualistic 
and  legalistic  religion,  as  we  shall  see,  and  it  was  the  chief 
occasion  of  his  break  with  the  priests  and  Pharisees  and  of 
their  hostility  to  him  that  culminated  in  their  sending  him 
to  the  cross. 

The  religious  life  of  the  Jews  was  further  centered  and 
concentrated  in  Jerusalem  in  the  yearly  feasts,  of  which 
the  principal  ones  were  Passover,  Pentecost,  Tabernacles, 
and  Dedication.  The  Passover  was  celebrated  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  and  was  in  commemoration  of  the  deliverance 
out  of  Egypt.  It  began  with  the  sacrifice  of  the  Pascal 
lamb  and  continued  for  a  week.  Pentecost,  so-called  be¬ 
cause  it  came  fifty  days  after  Passover,  celebrated  the  first 
fruits  of  the  harvest  and  was  a  joyous  festival.  In  the  fall 
the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  so-called  because  the  people  lived 
in  tabernacles  or  booths  out  in  the  open,  celebrated  the 
in  gathered  harvests,  and  was  a  national  thanksgiving  week. 
The  feast  of  Dedication  came  in  December  and  celebrated 
the  purification  of  the  temple  in  the  time  of  Judas  Macca- 
baeus  in  165  B.  C. 

There  were  other  minor  feasts  and  fasts,  such  as  Purim, 
celebrating  the  deliverance  of  the  Jews  in  the  days  of 


18 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Esther,  and  the  Day  of  Atonement,  which  was  a  day  of 
fasting  and  humiliation. 

It  was  required  of  all  Jews  that  they  attend  these  feasts 
at  Jerusalem  so  that  they  drew  great  multitudes  to  the 
capital.  They  were  not  only  religious  meetings  but  were 
also  social  and  festive  and  patriotic  gatherings  that  served 
to  bring  and  mingle  the  people  together  and  thus  to  con¬ 
serve  and  intensify  their  religious  and  national  life. 

Jesus  is  reported  in  the  Gospels  as  being  present  on 
several  occasions  at  these  feasts  and  it  is  probable  that  he 
regularly  attended  them  as  he  observed  the  requirements 
of  the  Mosaic  law. 

In  addition  to  this  centralized  worship  at  Jerusalem, 
there  was  the  worship  that  was  everywhere  carried  on  in 
the  synagogue,  which  corresponded  with  our  local  church. 
The  synagogue  was  found  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  and 
villages,  as  well  as  wherever  Jews  were  settled  in  foreign 
countries. 

The  service  in  it  consisted  in  reading  selected  portions 
of  the  Scriptures,  chiefly  of  the  law  and  prophets,  together 
with  an  exposition  of  a  passage  or  a  sermon  and  prayer. 
A  collection  was  taken  for  the  poor.  Each  synagogue  was 
governed  by  a  board  of  elders,  of  whom  one  presided  as- 
“ruler,”  but  there  was  no  minister  in  our  sense  of  the  word 
and  any  one  might  read  the  Scripture  or  speak,  so  that  the 
service  was  a  social  one  after  the  manner  of  our  prayer 
meeting.  A  curious  feature  of  the  synagogue  was  that  ten 
men  were  each  paid  a  shekel  to  attend  every  service  so 
that  a  quorum  might  always  be  present. 

The  local  common  school  was  also  held  in  the  synagogue, 
either  in  the  building  or  in  one  connected  with  it,  and  at¬ 
tendance  was  compulsory  on  all  J ewish  children,  beginning 
at  the  age  of  six  years.  The  synagogue  school  was  thus 
the  precursor  of  our  public  school.  The  local  law  court 
or  police  court  was  also  held  in  the  synagogue,  so  that  it 
was  the  center  of  the  religious  and  educational  and  civil 
life  of  each  community.  The  supreme  court  of  the  Jews 
was  the  Sanhedrin,  consisting  of  71  members,  scribes  and 
priests,  which  sat  in  Jerusalem  and  had  jurisdiction  over 
religious  matters  and  the  more  important  civil  and  crim¬ 
inal  cases. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


19 


It  was  in  the  synagogue  in  Nazareth  that  Jesus  wor¬ 
shipped  and  went  to  school,  and  during  his  ministry  he 
frequently  taught  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth  and  in 
other  places. 

(3)  Several  religious  parties  had  grown  up  among  the 
Jews,  dating  from  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  and  these 
play  an  important  part  in  the  Gospels. 

The  Sadducees  were  the  high  priestly  and  court  party. 
They  were  wealthy  aristocrats  who  stood  in  with  the 
Herodian  and  then  with  the  Roman  government  and  had 
political  and  social  prestige ;  and  they  usually  had  the 
office  of  high  priest,  which  was  the  principal  position  of 
religious  and  political  influence.  The  temple  administra¬ 
tion  and  services  were  in  their  hands. 

As  regards  doctrines,  they  held  to  the  Mosaic  law  as  it 
was  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  and  rejected  the  tra¬ 
ditional  additions  to  it  that  had  grown  up  into  such  bur¬ 
densome  complexity.  But  they  also  rejected  belief  in 
angels  and  spirits  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and 
were  doubtful  of  immortality  (Acts  23:8).  They  empha¬ 
sized  the  freedom  of  the  will  as  opposed  to  the  determin¬ 
ism  of  some  extremists  known  as  Essenes  and  a  middle 
position  of  the  Pharisees. 

Altogether  they  were  the  worldly  party  among  the  Jews, 
supporting  the  government  which  was  so  unpopular  with 
the  people,  holding  to  formal  religion  and  occupying  ruling 
positions  in  the  church,  but  lacking  in  the  spirit  of  piety. 

Over  against  the  Sadducees  were  the  Pharisees,  who  were 
the  party  in  opposition  to  the  government  and  were  the 
orthodox  religious  people.  The  name  means  “separatists” 
and  designates  their  position  and  character  as  separated 
from  the  less  scrupulous  defenders  of  the  Jewish  religion. 
They  were  the  traditionalists  who  had  elaborated  the  law 
of  Moses  into  all  its  minute  rules  and  regulations,  and  they 
were  punctilious  and  ostentatious  in  enforcing  these  regu¬ 
lations  on  others  and  yet  were  expert  at  evading  them  in 
their  private  practice. 

The  scribes  were  men  of  learning  who  studied  and  wrote 
upon  the  law  and  mostly  belonged  to  the  Pharisees.  They 
were  traditionalists  and  were  generally  joined  with  the 
Pharisees  in  their  opposition  to  Jesus  and  along  with  them 


20 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


came  under  his  condemnation.  The  “  lawyers  ”  occasion¬ 
ally  mentioned  are  practically  the  same  as  the  scribes. 

Two  smaller  parties  mentioned  in  the  Gospels  are  the 
“Herodians”  (Matt.  22:16),  and  the  “zealots,”  to  whom 
Simon,  one  of  the  twelve  disciples,  belonged  (Luke  6:15). 
The  former  were  supporters  of  the  Herod  government  and 
family,  and  the  latter  were  intense  and  radical  nationalists 
who  advocated  violent  measures  against  the  Romans  and, 
during  the  various  Jewish  rebellions  against  the  hated 
pagan  power,  committed  many  excesses. 

(4)  The  religious  doctrines  of  Judaism  consisted  in 
those  of  the  Old  Testament,  such  as  the  unity  and  sov¬ 
ereignty  and  righteousness  of  God,  salvation  from  sin 
through  sacrifice  and  faith;  but  in  addition  to  these  two 
others  were  specially  prominent  and  dominant  in  the  time 
of  Christ. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  doctrine  as  to  the  Messiah. 
The  prophets  predicted  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  under 
various  names  and  aspects,  sometimes  as  the  conquering 
King  and  at  other  times  as  the  suffering  Servant.  Various 
were  the  views  and  hopes  of  the  Jews  as  to  the  Messiah, 
but  by  the  time  of  Christ,  the  prevailing  view  had  fixed 
on  the  idea  and  hope  of  a  conquering  king  who  would  come 
in  the  greatness  of  his  strength  and  put  down  the  enemies 
of  the  Jews  and  exalt  them  in  power. 

Corresponding  with  this  idea  of  a  Messiah  was  the  Jew¬ 
ish  doctrine  and  hope  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  Jews 
were  impatiently  waiting  and  passionately  longing  for  this 
kingdom  in  the  days  of  Christ.  Various  views  were  also 
held  of  the  kingdom,  some  interpreting  it  in  spiritual  terms 
as  the  righteous  rule  of  God  over  men  in  his  gracious 
truth  and  love. 

But  the  prevailing  view  was  that  of  an  earthly  kingdom 
to  be  established  by  the  wrath  and  power  of  the  Messiah 
breaking  in  pieces  the  Gentile  kingdoms,  especially  hated 
Rome,  and  setting  up  a  world  kingdom  with  Jerusalem  as 
the  capital  and  themselves  in  the  chief  offices. 

This  hope  of  a  conquering  Messiah  and  an  earthly  king¬ 
dom  established  by  his  power  was  the  passionate  desire 
of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ.  It  found  expression  in 
the  “apocalypses”  of  the  Jews,  books  which  represented 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


21 


history  as  a  drama  in  which  enemies  were  destroyed  and 
the  kingdom  of  God  was  set  np  by  sndden  divine  power. 
Daniel  and  Revelation  are  two  such  apocalyptic  books,  but 
the  Jews  had  many  others. 

By  this  time  the  Jews  had  turned  all  the  symbolical 
representations  of  the  Messiah  and  his  kingdom  found  in 
the  prophets  into  literal  materialistic  reality.  They  wanted 
another  kingdom  like  the  Roman  Empire  with  another 
Caesar,  only  they  wanted  its  capital  to  be  Jerusalem  in¬ 
stead  of  Rome  and  themselves  to  sit  on  Caesar’s  throne  in 
place  of  Augustus  and  Nero. 

These  prevailing  views  and  hopes  as  to  the  Messiah  and 
his  kingdom  are  a  prominent  fact  and  feature  in  the  back¬ 
ground  of  the  New  Testament  and  play  an  important  part 
in  the  life  of  Jesus.  It  was  because  he  was  not  the  kind 
of  Messiah  they  were  looking  for  and  was  not  setting  forth 
the  kind  of  kingdom  they  wanted  that  they  rejected  him 
and  sent  him  to  his  cross. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  GREEK  BACKGROUND 

The  background  of  the  New  Testament  is  much  wider 
than  the  country  of  Palestine,  and  the  religious  history 
of  the  Jews;  it  really  is  rooted  back  in  Babylon  and  Egypt 
in  the  ancient  world,  and  in  the  time  of  Christ  it  ran  its 
roots  out  widely  through  the  Greek  and  Roman  world. 
The  New  Testament  was  largely  shaped  and  colored  by 
Greek  life  and  thought  and  owes  much  to  this  wonderful 
people. 

1.  The  Greek  Genius 

The  Greeks  were  an  Aryan  people  who  came  down  from 
the  north  in  early  times  in  successive  waves  of  immigra¬ 
tion  and  settled  in  Greece  and  its  adjacent  islands  and 
shores,  and  there  through  a  thousand  years  developed 
their  racial  life. 

From  the  sixth  to  the  fourth  centuries  B.  C.  the  Greek 
genius  blossomed  into  its  fullest  glory,  but  its  fading 
splendors  lasted  down  into  the  Roman  Empire.  This  was 
the  age  of  its  great  statesmen  and  orators  and  artists,  poets 
and  philosophers,  Pericles  and  Demosthenes  and  Phidias, 
Pindar  and  Aeschylus  and  Euripides,  Socrates  and  Plato 
and  Aristotle,  names  that  are  imperishable  in  the  history 
of  the  human  race. 

The  genius  of  the  Greeks,  like  that  of  any  other  great 
people,  is  complex  and  subtle,  and  different  students  have 
analyzed  it  differently.  It  had  a  supreme  sense  of  beauty 
and  produced  architecture  and  sculpture  of  which  the  very 
ruins  and  fragments  are  now  guarded  as  priceless  treas¬ 
ures.  The  Greeks  had  intellectual  depth  and  brilliance 
and  their  historians  and  poets  produced  literary  master¬ 
pieces  that  in  these  fields  have  rarely  been  equalled  and 
probably  never  surpassed;  and  the  Greek  philosophers 
thought  profoundly  on  all  the  great  questions  that  still 

22 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


23 


perplex  us.  If  it  be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  the  ancients 
stole  all  our  best  thoughts,  then  the  Greeks  got  the  larger 
part  of  them,  for  it  is  surprising  how  modern  their  books 
are. 

Other  factors  m  the  Greek  genius  that  have  been  noted 
were  their  originality,  their  freedom,  their  intense  curios¬ 
ity,  their  humanism  and  their  versatility.  And  of  course 
they  were  deeply  religious  and  Athens  swarmed  with  gods 
so  that,  not  to  miss  any  god  in  their  worship,  they  set  up 
an  altar  “To  the  Unknown  God,”  which  attracted  Paul’s 
attention  and  became  the  text  of  his  memorable  sermon 
on  Mars’  Hill. 

2.  The  Spread  of  Greek  Civilization 

The  Greeks  lacked  political  cohesiveness  and  never  built 
up  a  great  state  at  home,  but  after  their  decline  had  set 
in  they  burst  their  own  narrow  boundaries  in  a  notable 
adventure  that  profoundly  affected  the  ancient  world. 

Alexander  the  Great  started  out  in  334  B.  C.  and  cut 
his  way  into  the  heart  of  Asia,  mowing  down  Asiatic  hordes 
in  his  path  and  reaching  India.  Death  by  fever  cut  short 
his  meteoric  career  at  Babylon  in  323  B.  C.,  and  his  Greek 
generals  divided  up  his  empire,  Ptolemy  taking  Egypt, 
and  Seleucus  taking  Syria,  including  Palestine.  Palestine 
thus  remained  under  Greek  rule,  with  the  exception  of  the 
brief  Maccabean  independence,  until  it  fell  under  the  rule 
of  Rome. 

Many  Greeks  following  in  the  train  of  Alexander  settled 
in  Syria  and  other  regions  along  the  track  of  his  march. 
These  Greek  settlements  became  centers  of  Greek  life  and 
culture  and  sowed  seeds  that  fertilized  these  regions  and 
produced  widespread  and  lasting  effects.  The  conquest  of 
Alexander  thus  broke  up  the  immobility  and  stagnation 
of  the  East  and  mixed  with  it  the  ideas  and  energies  of 
the  West  and  opened  a  new  era  in  history. 

Many  Greeks  settled  in  Palestine  and  affected  its  life 
and  thought.  Many  Greek  names  of  individuals  and  towns 
and  regions  occur  in  the  New  Testament.  Decapolis  (Matt. 
4:25)  was  a  region  lying  east  of  the  Esdraelon  valley  con¬ 
taining  ten  Greek  cities,  as  the  name  means,  which  had 
been  founded  by  Greeks  following  in  the  wake  of  Alex- 


24 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


ander.  Greeks  came  up  to  the  feasts  at  J erusalem,  and  on 
one  occasion  several  of  them  wished  to  see  Jesus  (John 
12:20-22)  and  first  made  known  their  desire  to  Philip, 
probably  because  he  bore  a  Greek  name.  The  “Grecian 
Jews”  (Revised  Version)  mentioned  in  Acts  6:1  and 
9 : 29,  commonly  called  “Hellenists,”  were  Jews  who  spoke 
Greek  and  thus  were  deeply  saturated  with  Greek  culture. 

3.  The  Greek  Language 

The  Greeks  developed  one  of  the  most  flexible  and  ex¬ 
pressive  and  beautiful  of  human  languages,  in  many  re¬ 
spects  the  highest  achievement  of  human  genius  in  this 
field.  It  has  a  wealthy  vocabulary  and  a  wonderful  power 
Of  expressing  ideas  in  all  their  shapes  and  shades  and  it 
is  rarely  rhythmical  and  musical.  The  tongue  of  Homer 
and  Demosthenes  remains  to  this  day  as  a  master  instru¬ 
ment  of  the  human  soul,  capable  of  voicing  its  great  heights 
and  depths,  and  is  still  one  of  our  richest  means  of  culture. 

Such  a  language  easily  proved  its  superiority  by  over¬ 
spreading  the  ancient  world  and  becoming  a  universal 
speech.  As  formerly  French  was  and  now  English  is  a 
world  language  by  which  culture  and  trade  and  travel 
compass  the  earth,  so  in  the  days  of  Greece  the  Greek 
language  was  the  instrument  of  universal  communication 
and  life  and  thought.  Cicero  said  in  62  B.  C. :  “Greek  is 
read  by  practically  the  whole  world,  while  Latin  is  confined 
to  its  own  territory,  which  is  narrow  indeed.” 

Greek,  then,  overran  Palestine  and  was  generally  used 
and  understood  in  the  cities  and  towns  by  many  if  not 
most  of  the  people.  By  the  time  of  Christ  Hebrew  had 
ceased  to  be  a  vernacular  language  and  had  grown  into 
the  Aramaic,  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  developed  into  our  Eng¬ 
lish  tongue.  Aramaic  was  generally  the  common  speech 
among  the  Jews,  although  many  of  them  also  understood 
Greek. 

J esus  no  doubt  was  reared  in  the  Aramaic  language  and 
commonly  spoke  it  in  his  life  and  used  it  in  his  public 
ministry.  A  few  of  his  Aramaic  words  are  preserved  in  the 
Gospels.  In  his  sorrow  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  he 
said,  “Abba,”  Father,  which  was  possibly  the  first  word 
his  infant  tongue  uttered;  and  in  his  cry  on  the  cross, 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  25 

“Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani, ’ 9  he  reverted  to  his  childhood 
speech. 

Yet  we  may  be  sure  that  Jesus  knew  Greek  and  could 
use  it  on  occasion.  He  must  have  talked  with  the  Greeks, 
who  came  to  see  him  (John  12:  20),  in  their  own  language, 
and  his  trial  before  Pilate  probably  was  conducted  in 
Greek. 

The  Old  Testament  was  early  (285  B.  C.)  translated 
into  Greek  and  was  widely  read  in  this  Septuagint  version ; 
there  were  many  Greek  towns  and  Greeks  as  well  as  Greek¬ 
speaking  Jews  in  Palestine,  Paul  was  reared  in  a  Greek 
city,  and  of  course  the  apostles,  when  they  went  out  as 
missionaries,  preached  in  Greek. 

The  outstanding  fact  at  this  point  is  that  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  was  written  in  Greek.  One  and  only  one  book  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  may  have  been 
originally  written  in  Aramaic,  according  to  an  early  tra¬ 
dition,  but  if  so  written  it  was  soon  translated  into  Greek, 
and  all  the  others  were  originally  written  in  this  language. 

It  is  an  astonishing  fact  that  while  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
came  from  a  Jew  and  through  the  Jews,  yet  it  was  not 
given  to  the  world  in  the  Jewish  language  :  this  immortal 
honor  was  conferred  upon  the  Greek  tongue.  The  whole 
story  of  the  life  and  ministry  of  Jesus,  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  and  his  parables  and  all  the  recorded  words  that 
fell  from  his  lips  went  out  to  the  world  and  have  come 
down  to  us  in  the  Greek  language. 

The  reason  for  this,  of  course,  was  that  Aramaic  was 
only  a  provincial  and  short-lived  language  and  was  not  a 
fit  and  sufficient  vehicle  to  carry  the  gospel  out  over  the 
world.  The  Greek,  being  the  universal  language  of  the 
time,  was  the  only  proper  channel  for  the  transmission  of 
the  universal  religion.  Jesus  Christ  was  no  parochial 
schoolmaster,  but  the  Prophet  of  humanity  and  he  must 
needs  speak  in  a  world  language.  The  language  was  fitted 
to  the  message  of  good  news,  and  the  good  news  was  worthy 
of  the  language,  and  so  the  two  were  divinely  wedded  to¬ 
gether  in  a  union  that  has  not  been  sundered  to  this  day. 

The  particular  idiom  or  kind  of  Greek  in  which  the  New 
Testament  was  written  was  not  the  classical  Greek  of  the 
writers  of  the  palmy  days  of  Greece,  but  the  speech  of 


26 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  common  people  of  the  time  of  Christ.  Recent  dis¬ 
coveries  in  the  sands  of  Egypt  and  elsewhere  have  un¬ 
earthed  Greek  papyri  or  letters  and  other  writings  of  this 
period  which  show  that  the  everyday  speech  of  the  Greeks 
was  practically  identical  with  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  these  writings  are  throwing  much  fresh  light  on 
the  meaning  of  New  Testament  words  and  teachings.  Such 
books  as  Professor  Adolf  Deissmann’s  Light  from  the 
Ancient  East,  containing  these  discoveries,  are  an  illum¬ 
inating  commentary  on  the  New  Testament. 

4.  Greek  Contributions  to  the  New  Testament 

The  New  Testament,  being  written  in  Greek,  necessarily 
derived  from  that  language  something  more  and  much 
more  than  the  mere  words  in  which  it  was  expressed.  The 
words  of  any  language  not  only  convey  their  primary  sig¬ 
nifications  but  also  carry  with  them  subtle  associations  and 
suggestions  and  implications  that  cannot  be  divested  from 
their  express  contents.  When  words  are  chosen  as  vehicles 
to  convey  ideas  these  marginal  or  atmospheric  implications 
or  overtones  go  along  with  them  and  mingle  with  the  ex¬ 
pressed  ideas. 

Not  only  the  Greek  language  poured  into  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  but  along  with  it  slipped  in  a  stream  of  Greek  ideas 
and  suggestions  that  helped  to  shape  and  color  the  book. 
Any  important  Greek  word  in.  it  is  thus  more  or  less  satu¬ 
rated  or  tinctured  with  Greek  thought. 

A  notable  instance  of  this  is  the  word  Logos  translated 
Word  in  the  opening  verses  of  John’s  Gospel.  This  word 
was  in  use  in  the  Greek  city  of  Alexandria  as  a  designation 
of  divine  reason  in  action  or  deity  expressing  itself  in 
creation,  and  thus  John  found  it  shaped  to  his  use  and 
applied  it  to  Christ.  As  a  word  is  the  revelation  or  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  mind,  so  is  Christ  the  Logos  or  Word  or 
revelation  of  God,  or  God  in  action. 

The  word  translated  “propitiation”  in  Rom.  3:25,  a 
critical  word  in  connection  with  Christ’s  atoning  death, 
has  recently  had  fresh  light  thrown  upon  it  from  its  use 
in  Greek  worship  in  which  it  was  applied  to  a  sacrifice 
offered  to  God  to  appease  or  satisfy  him. 

Not  only  did  Greek  words,  however  charged  with  Chris- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


27 


tian  meanings,  necessarily  carry  Greek  implications  into 
the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  but  Greek  principles 
of  theology  and  philosophy  were  also  incorporated  in  it. 
Paul's  letters  are  especially  tinctured  and  colored  with 
these  foreign  ideas  more  or  less  derived  from  pagan  cults. 
Christianity  has  a  native  affinity  with  any  and  all  truth 
and  selects  and  absorbs  and  assimilates  it  from  any  source, 
and  so  as  it  went  out  through  the  world  it  appropriated 
and  transformed  ideas  and  customs  from  Greek  thought 
and  Roman  law  and  pagan  religions;  and  in  its  march 
down  through  the  centuries  it  has  continued  this  process 
to  this  day.  It  has  an  enormous  digestive  capacity  and 
has  thus  grown  and  enriched  itself  through  its  whole  his¬ 
tory. 

Never  was  this  selective  and  absorbent  affinity  and  pro¬ 
cess  more  active  than  in  our  age.  By  this  principle  our 
modern  knowledge  is  being  constantly  digested  by  and 
assimilated  into  our  religious  thought  and  life.  As  Paul 
said  to  the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  3:  21-22),  “For  all  things 
are  yours,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the 
world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to 
come ;  all  are  yours,  ’ '  so  may  we  say  that  all  truth  is  ours, 
whether  of  Copernicus  and  Newton,  or  of  Milton  and 
Tennyson,  whether  of  astronomy  and  geology,  or  of  phi¬ 
losophy  and  poetry,  all  are  ours  to  incorporate  in  our 
religious  thought  and  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 
There  is  no  escaping  this  psychological  necessity  of  doing 
all  our  thinking  in  the  terms  and  under  the  limitations 
of  the  language  and  ideas  and  life  of  our  day. 

The  fact,  then,  that  the  New  Testament  was  originally 
written  in  Greek  was  one  of  tremendous  importance.  This 
involved  it  deep  and  subtle  consequences  as  it  abandoned 
its  own  mother  speech  and  domiciled  itself  in  a  new  tongue, 
for  every  Greek  word  it  used  carried  with  it  Greek  asso¬ 
ciations  and  implications  and  overtones  that  entered  into 
and  modified  its  own  meaning.  “This  change  meant  at 
once  a  change  of  race  and  home ;  the  cradle  of  the  religion 
ceased  to  be  its  nursery.  So  it  forgot  the  tongue  of  its 
birthplace  and  learned  the  speech  of  its  new  mother¬ 
land."  We  know  how  deeply  a  change  of  language  goes 
into  any  one's  whole  thought  and  life,  and  the  New  Testa- 


28 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


ment  did  not  and  could  not  escape  the  consequences  of  this 
epochal  fact. 

The  result  of  this  change  of  base  was  not  the  narrowing 
and  impoverishment  of  Christianity  but  its  enlargement 
and  enrichment.  It  gave  up  a  meager,  provincial  and 
rapidly  vanishing  tongue  for  one  of  the  richest,  most 
powerful,  most  expressive  and  most  beautiful  organs  of 
human  communication  in  the  world.  The  New  Testament, 
the  most  vital,  dynamic  and  creative  book  ever  given  to 
humanity,  did  not  lose  but  immensely  gained  in  thought 
and  life  and  power  because  it  spoke  to  the  world  and  to 
the  ages  in  the  marvelous  Greek  tongue.  And  although 
the  New  Testament,  along  with  the  Old,  has  been  trans¬ 
lated  into  many  hundreds  of  languages  and  thus  is  given  to 
most  of  the  peoples  of  the  world  in  their  own  speech,  and 
although  it  stands  translation  and  carries  its  thought  and 
message  over  into  other  languages  better  than  most  other 
books,  yet  the  Greek  New  Testament  remains  as  the  original 
and  standard  of  the  inspired  Word  of  God. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ROMAN  BACKGROUND 


Behind  and  around  the  New  Testament  stands  a  vastly 
wider  background  than  the  Jewish  and  the  Greek  worlds, 
the  Roman  Empire.  This  is  the  majestic  frame  that  hems 
in  Palestine  and  all  its  doings  as  mountains  encircle  a 
plain. 


1.  The  Roman  Genius 

The  Romans  were  an  Aryan  people  closely  related  to  the 
Greeks,  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  being  kindred 
tongues,  but  they  had  a  characteristic  racial  genius  that 
was  in  marked  contrast  with  that  of  the  Greeks  and  that  of 
the  Jews.  The  Jews  were  intuitive  and  mystical,  along 
with  all  Semitic  peoples,  the  Greeks  were  artistic  and 
philosophical,  but  the  Romans  were  practical  and  political. 

The  Romans  had  immense  common  sense  and  always  took 
hold  of  things  at  the  practical  end.  They  borrowed  their 
arts  and  philosophy,  but  they  conceived  and  built  their 
own  roads  and  bridges  and  buildings  and  government. 
While  they  imported  a  good  deal  of  Greek  art  and  phil¬ 
osophy,  yet  these  never  passed  into  their  blood  and  circu¬ 
lated  in  their  system,  but  remained  as  a  thin  veneering  on 
their  civilization. 

Their  philosophy  was  materialistic  and  tended  down¬ 
ward  into  the  flesh.  They  endured  hardship  as  soldiers 
in  gaining  their  conquests,  and  then,  feasting  on  the  fruits 
of  their  victories,  they  relapsed  into  ease  and  luxury  and 
sensuality.  They  were  as  hard-hearted  as  they  were  hard- 
headed,  and  never  was  a  great  people  more  insensible  to 
human  suffering.  They  were  pleasure  mad,  and  11  bread 
and  the  circus’7  were  the  demand  of  the  populace  and  were 
the  two  things  that  would  keep  them  quiet.  The  Colos- 

29 


30 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


seum,  whose  mournful  ruin  is  the  most  majestic  monument 
of  the  Roman  Empire  and  stands  as  its  most  significant 
tombstone,  typified  its  life  and  spirit  as  it  was  filled  to 
overflowing  with  80,000  people  frenzied  with  excitement 
and  shouting  over  the  scenes  down  in  the  blood-stained 
sand  of  the  arena  where  thousands  of  men  lost  their  lives 
in  mortal  combat  to  make  a  Roman  holiday. 

The  most  prominent  feature  of  Roman  genius  was  ad¬ 
ministrative  ability.  The  Roman  was  strong  where  the 
Greek  was  weak,  and  weak  where  the  Greek  was  strong. 
The  Greek  had  philosophical  acumen,  but  he  lacked  execu¬ 
tive  ability.  He  could  build  a  system  of  metaphysics  and 
mould  marble,  but  he  could  not  build  a  political  fabric 
larger  than  a  city  state  because  he  could  not  join  and  weld 
city  states  into  permanent  cohesion. 

The  Roman  lacked  philosophical  insight  and  depth  of 
thought,  but  he  was  tremendous  in  execution.  He  had  a 
will  to  govern  and  political  adhesiveness  to  cement  his 
conquests  into  coherence  and  stability.  Thus,  while  the 
Greek  instructed  the  world  as  its  schoolmaster  and  charmed 
it  with  his  art,  only  the  Roman  could  impose  upon  it  an 
imperial  will. 

2.  The  Roman  Empire 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Roman  built  the  might¬ 
iest  political  structure  that  had  ever  been  erected  on  the 
earth  and  that  has  hardly  yet  been  surpassed  or  even 
equaled  in  the  world.  From  the  Golden  Milestone  in  the 
center  of  his  capital  city  he  swept  a  far-flung  circumference 
around  the  western  world  and  shut  up  within  its  mighty 
rim  the  motley  multitudes  of  peoples  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Euphrates  and  turned  the  Mediterranean  into  a  Roman 
lake.  From  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  human  beings  were  housed  under  this  vast  roof,  a  greater 
mass  of  population  that  had  up  to  that  time  been  gathered 
under  one  government.  Within  this  territory  were  many 
races  and  peoples  speaking  many  languages  which  had 
hitherto  been  in  a  state  of  chronic  mutual  warfare  and  con¬ 
fusion,  and  Rome  reduced  all  this  chaos  of  tongues  and 
strife  into  law  and  order  and  hushed  it  into  peace. 

With  his  strong  sense  of  the  practical,  the  Roman  built 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


31 


roads  running  out  from  his  capital  in  every  direction  to 
the  rim  of  the  empire  so  solidly  constructed  that  some  of 
them  are  in  use  to  this  day ;  and  he  made  trade  and  travel 
by  land  and  sea  as  safe  as  they  are  in  our  modern  world. 
The  Roman  legions  marched  everywhere  with  their  glitter¬ 
ing  helmets  and  flashing  spears  and  golden  eagles,  and  their 
mere  presence  was  enough  to  secure  order  and  quiet. 
Roman  officials  were  generally  honest,  though  many  of  the 
petty  ones  were  grafters,  and  they  were  efficient  and  fear¬ 
less  and  terribly  severe  in  enforcing  law  and  justice. 

The  Roman  boundary  of  the  empire  protected  the  West 
against  the  Asiatic  hordes  of  the  East  and  against  the 
barbarians  of  the  North.  The  world  had  grown  weary  and 
exhausted  with  the  wars  of  the  closing  years  of  the  Re¬ 
public,  and  welcomed  the  peace  of  Augustus  Caesar  and 
his  successors,  despotic  as  it  was,  with  a  profound  sense 
of  relief  and  thankfulness.  Under  the  mighty  wing  of 
Rome  the  world  recovered  its  exhausted  energies  and  began 
to  build  up  its  agriculture  and  industries  and  to  grow  in 
prosperity  and  wealth.  Greek  culture  also  spread  under 
the  same  protection  and  the  higher  and  finer  things  of  life 
began  to  grow  and  flourish. 

For  two  hundred  years  after  Augustus  this  peace  en¬ 
dured,  and  to  Rome  was  given  the  mission  of  saving  the 
ancient  world  from  chaos  and  of  holding  it  together  in 
peace  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  advent  and  spread 
of  Christianity. 

3.  Pagan  Religions  in  the  Roman  Empire 

PauUs  opening  sentence  in  his  sermon  on  Mars7  Hill, 
“Ye  men  of  Athens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye  are 
very  religious,  ”  might  equally  well  have  been  addressed 
to  the  whole  ancient  world.  Man  is  constitutionally  and 
incurably  religious,  and  his  religious  nature  is  the  soil 
which  over  the  whole  earth  from  the  most  primitive  times 
has  sprouted  into  innumerable  religions  which  have  sought 
to  know  and  worship  the  God  of  heaven. 

The  Roman  world  swarmed  with  gods  in  countless  num¬ 
bers.  The  Greek  mythological  gods,  Jupiter  and  Venus 
and  their  whole  company  that  were  supposed  to  occupy 
Mount  Olympus  and  were  once  sincerely  worshipped,  by 


32 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  time  of  Christ  had  become  pale  specters  and  myths 
that  were  no  longer  believed  in  by  thoughtful  people  and 
were  generally  made  the  objects  of  ridicule  and  jest. 

A  horde  of  Asiatic  cults,  religions  that  worshipped  the 
sun  and  fire  and  other  forms  of  nature,  and  mystery  relig¬ 
ions  with  their  secrets  imparted  only  to  their  initiates, 
all  with  their  priests  and  rites,  had  invaded  Rome,  and 
each  had  its  little  coterie  or  larger  group  of  followers. 
Many  of  these  cults  were  immoral  in  teaching  and  prac¬ 
tice,  and  one  temple  of  such  worship  had  6,000  young 
women  devoted  to  its  impure  rites.  Most  of  these  religions 
were  decadent  and  dying,  but  some  of  them  were  vigorous 
and  militant  with  the  missionary  spirit,  and  one  of  them, 
Mithraism,  was  at  one  time  a  threatening  rival  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  that  was  not  overcome  and  crowded  out  of  the 
field  until  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

All  these  pagan  religions  headed  up  into  the  worship  of 
the  Roman  Emperor,  whose  very  name  as  an  object  of 
worship  struck  terror  or  inspired  confidence  throughout 
the  empire.  Rome  was  tolerant  of  all  faiths,  but,  while 
permitting  them  to  exist,  compulsorily  imposed  upon  all 
its  subjects  the  worship  of  the  Emperor,  which  was  offi¬ 
cially  and  might  be  perfunctorily  performed  by  dropping 
a  little  incense  on  the  altar  of  Caesar  in  acknowledg¬ 
ment  of  his  divine  authority.  The  object  of  this  wor¬ 
ship  was  not  simply  the  gratification  of  the  Emperor, 
but  chiefly  the  binding  of  the  empire  into  unity  and 
solidarity. 

When  this  formal  act  of  worship  was  rendered,  the  wor¬ 
shipper  was  free  to  worship  any  other  god  or  gods,  but 
when  this  act  was  refused  the  consequences  became  grave, 
for  this  was  regarded  not  only  as  an  act  of  impiety,  but 
also  of  treason.  It  was  this  Emperor  worship  that  pre¬ 
cipitated  the  fateful  break  and  collision  between  Chris¬ 
tianity  and  Rome  that  brought  upon  the  early  Christians 
the  terrible  doom  of  ten  dreadful  persecutions  and  that 
plays  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  lurid  pictures  of  the  Book 
of  Revelation. 

Underneath  all  these  pagan  faiths  was  a  great  hunger 
for  God  and  a  great  deal  of  sincere  piety.  By  means  of 
these  cults  their  followers  sought  to  satisfy  their  religious 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


33 


needs,  especially  for  guidance  and  courage  and  comfort, 
and  these  multitudes  of  souls  were  seeking  after  God  if 
haply  they  might  find  him;  and  through  these  dim  faiths 
some  light  glimmered  into  their  minds  from  1  ‘  the  true  light 
which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.” 
However  misguided  they  often  were,  yet 

There  were  longings,  yearnings,  strivings, 

For  the  good  they  comprehend  not. 

And  the  feeble  hands  and  helpless 
Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness, 

Touched  God’s  right  hand  in  that  darkness, 

And  were  lifted  up  and  strengthened. 

4.  Roman  Contributions  to  the  New  Testament 

While  there  was  not  given  to  the  Roman  such  a  glory  as 
fell  upon  the  Greek,  that  of  contributing  to  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  his  language,  yet  the  Roman  contributions  to  the 
book  are  large  and  important. 

Rome  furnished  the  political  framework  and  world  back¬ 
ground  for  Christianity.  It  prepared  the  world  at  large 
and  hushed  all  its  clamorous  confusion  into  quiet  so  that 
the  gospel  could  be  heard.  It  built  the  roads  and  bridges 
over  which  it  could  travel  and  made  the  sea  safe  over 
which  it  could  sail. 

It  also  furnished  ideas  that  passed  into  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment.  The  idea  of  law  that  is  so  fundamental  in  the 
gospel,  while  not  a  distinctive  Roman  contribution,  was 
yet  greatly  deepened  and  broadened  by  the  background  of 
Roman  law.  And  the  vast  overshadowing  presence  and 
power  of  the  Roman  Empire  lent  its  powerful  influence 
and  impetus  to  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen  as  well  as  a  Greek  scholar  and 
a  Hebrew  rabbi,  and  so  these  three  backgrounds,  the  Jew¬ 
ish,  Greek  and  Roman,  met  and  blended  in  him,  and  some¬ 
thing  from  each  of  them  passed  through  him  into  his 
Epistles.  Roman  ideas  and  customs,  some  of  them  con¬ 
nected  with  the  pagan  religions,  by  various  methods  and 
means  percolated  into  the  New  Testament  and  colored  its 
pages  in  ways  which  the  ordinary  reader  may  little  suspect 
but  which  the  critical  scholar  can  detect.  Christianity  has 
not  hesitated  to  adopt  and  adapt  elements  from  pagan  re- 


34 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


ligions,  transforming  and  transfiguring  them  to  its  own 
teaching  and  spirit  and  use. 

The  Book  of  Revelation  especially  is  set  in  the  frame¬ 
work  of  the  Roman  background  and  is  deeply  colored  by 
Roman  Emperor  worship  and  Roman  persecution. 

Thus  the  New  Testament  is  a  highly  complex  book.  It 
has  many  roots  running  down  into  and  back  through  many 
continents  and  countries,  races  and  religions,  languages 
and  literatures,  cities  and  civilizations.  Babylon,  Egypt, 
Palestine,  Persia,  Greece  and  Rome,  all  sent  streams  into 
this  book.  It  is  composed  of  and  colored  with  elements, 
ideas,  customs,  doctrines,  ordinances  contributed  from 
every  quarter  of  the  world.  A  providential  decree  went 
out  that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed  for  the  enrichment 
of  this  sacred  volume. 

These  diverse  and  widely  separated  human  origins  and 
elements  do  not  detract  from  its  divine  origin  and  inspira¬ 
tion,  but  all  the  more  enhance  its  value.  These  were  the 
“ sundry  times  and  divers  manners”  at  and  in  which  “God 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets.”  The 
book  is  therefore  the  distilled  essence  of  the  religious  life 
and  experience  of  many  lands  and  peoples.  The  most 
gifted  spiritual  geniuses,  the  loftiest  souls  closest  to  God 
and  quickest  to  catch  the  light  of  his  face,  poured  their 
light  into  these  pages.  It  is  because  of  this  highly  com¬ 
posite  nature,  gathering  its  materials  from  many  sources, 
that  it  so  completely  matches  our  experiences  and  meets 
our  needs.  It  is  the  sifted  sum  and  supreme  summit  of 
the  religious  literature  of  the  race,  and  thereby  is  incom¬ 
parably  the  most  vital  and  precious  book  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  FULNESS  OF  TIME 


Why  was  it  that  the  Saviour  of  mankind  was  not  brought 
into  the  world  until  so  late  a  period  in  its  history,  after 
so  long  a  delay  in  which  many  prophets  grew  weary  of 
waiting  for  his  coming,  and  generation  after  generation 
passed  without  ever  hearing  his  voice?  Why  did  he  not 
come  in  the  beginning  and  get  an  early  start  in  saving  the 
world?  The  question  must  ever  surprise  and  startle  us 
when  we  come  to  think  of  this  long  delay. 

And  yet  the  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  Preparation  must 
always  precede  execution,  as  plowing  must  go  before  plant¬ 
ing  and  planting  before  reaping.  Even  a  great  man  of 
genius  cannot  be  brought  into  the  world  until  all  things 
are  ready  for  him.  It  would  have  been  of  no  use  to  bring 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  into  the  world  in  the  17th  century  B.  C. ; 
he  would  then  have  died  unknown  without  any  worthy 
accomplishment;  the  soil  was  not  ready  for  the  peculiar 
seed  of  his  brain.  And  so  his  coming  was  delayed  until 
the  17th  century  A.  D.  when  all  things  were  ready  for 
him. 

In  a  still  greater  degree  the  world  had  to  be  got  ready 
for  the  coming  of  Christ.  God  did  not  drop  this  precious 
“corn  of  wheat”  into  the  ground  until  the  soil  was  pre¬ 
pared  for  it  and  its  summer  was  near. 

The  various  backgrounds  we  have  been  sketching  were 
so  many  converging  paths  of  preparation  for  the  coming  of 
Christ  and  the  writing  of  the  New  Testament.  The  Jewish 
people  were  endowed  with  religious  genius  and  disciplined 
through  their  varied  history  and  experiences  to  receive  the 
Messiah.  They  were  drilled  in  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
one  true  and  living,  sovereign  and  righteous  God;  of  sin 
and  sacrifice,  penitence  and  faith;  of  the  spirituality  of 
religion,  and  of  increasing  revelation  through  the  prophets. 

35 


36 


THE  MAKING-  AND  MEANING 


From  Babylon  through  Egypt  and  Palestine  and  down 
into  exile  and  hack  to  Jerusalem  they  were  traveling  to¬ 
wards  the  advent  of  their  Messiah;  and  however  blindly 
and  perversely  they  missed  seeing  him  in  his  true  light 
when  he  came,  they  did  prepare  the  way  for  his  coming 
and  his  mission  and  kingdom. 

At  the  same  time  a  parallel  process  of  preparation  was 
going  on  out  in  the  universal  Gentile  world.  Greek  genius 
was  developing  its  thought  for  the  enrichment  of  Chris¬ 
tian  doctrines  and  was  fashioning  and  finishing  its  flexible 
and  facile  language  for  the  New  Testament.  Home  was 
also  suppressing  disorder  in  the  world  and  binding  it  into 
unity  and  quieting  it  into  the  stillness  of  a  vast  amphi¬ 
theatre  in  which  the  gospel  could  make  its  voice  heard.  It 
was  building  roads  and  casting  up  highways  along  which 
the  gospel  could  travel  and  sweeping  the  sea  of  pirates  and 
making  it  safe.  It  was  enforcing  principles  of  law  and 
maintaining  a  universal  empire  that  were  powerful  reen- 
forcements  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 

And  all  pagan  religions,  while  they  were  pathetic  and 
often  sincere  efforts  to  feel  after  God  if  haply  their  grop¬ 
ing  fingers  might  touch  his  hand  in  the  darkness,  yet  had 
proved  the  utter  impotence  of  unaided  man  to  save  him¬ 
self  by  all  the  altars  he  could  build  and  all  the  sacrifices 
he  could  offer  and  all  the  tears  he  could  shed.  It  would 
seem  that  God  left  the  world  largely  to  itself  for  so  long 
a  time  to  show  it  and  bring  home  to  the  very  bosom  and 
heart  of  men  that  only  his  truth  and  grace  could  redeem 
the  world  from  sin  and  restore  it  to  his  fellowship. 

At  this  crisis  all  the  stars  of  pagan  faith  were  fast  fad¬ 
ing  into  a  night  of  black  despair.  The  Roman  Empire, 
while  it  suppressed  disorder,  was  yet  a  terrible  burden  of 
despotism  and  cruelty  on  the  world.  Slavery  cast  its  deep 
pall  over  its  vast  domain,  and  the  rich  were  exploiting  the 
poor  without  mercy.  Never  was  the  human  heart  more 
cruel  and  hopeless.  The  world  was  really  sick  at  heart 
and  seemed  to  be  reeling  to  its  doom. 

On  that  hard  pagan  world  disgust 
And  secret  loathing  fell. 

Deep  weariness  and  sated  lust 
Made  human  life  a  hell. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


37 


And  yet  at  this  time  the  world  stood  expectant.  Strange 
rumors  were  abroad  of  a  coming  Saviour,  in  the  Gentile 
as  well  as  in  the  Jewish  world,  and  in  many  souls  were 
deep  forebodings  of  his  advent.  The  universal  human 
heart  was  weary  of  the  burden  of  sin  and  was  receptive 
of  some  more  sure  word  of  prophecy. 

At  this  critical  juncture  the  angels  announced  to  Judean 
shepherds  the  birth  of  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  Hebrew 
and  Greek  and  Roman  had  done  their  work  of  preparation, 
and  the  great  hour  struck.  God  did  not  wait  a  day  too 
long  to  bring  his  Son  into  the  world,  but  ushered  him  in 
at  just  the  right  moment.  The  world  stage  was  set,  and 
the  calendar  of  the  centuries  marked  the  exact  hour.  The 
divine  philosophy  of  history  is  that  “when  the  fulness  of 
the  time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  his  Son.” 

It  is  in  the  light  of  this  grand  background  only  that 
we  can  understand  the  New  Testament,  and  we  are  now 
ready  to  examine  its  books. 


s 


PART  n 


THE  BOOKS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

Christianity,  being  an  historical  religion,  early  com¬ 
mitted  itself  to  writing  and  embodied  itself  in  books  that 
are  still  its  foundation  and  fountain.  The  Bible,  consist' 
ing  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments,  is  at  once  its 
history  and  charter  and  constitution. 

The  New  Testament  contains  twenty-seven  books  as 
follows :  the  four  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  thirteen 
Epistles  of  Paul,  Hebrews,  James,  two  Epistles  of  Peter, 
three  Epistles  of  John,  Jude,  and  Revelation.  These  are 
only  a  selection  out  of  a  much  larger  body  of  literature 
which  arose  in  connection  with  the  beginnings  of  Chris¬ 
tianity,  but  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  books,  has  perished.  Luke  in  the  preface  to  his 
Gospel  refers  to  some  of  these  writings  which  he  had  in 
hand,  and  many  books  of  later  date,  such  as  the  apocryphal 
gospels,  have  survived;  but  the  books  forming  our  New 
Testament  were  the  only  ones  which  were  selected  to  con¬ 
stitute  the  Canon. 

It  is  an  important  fact  that  the  New  Testament  did  not 
create  Christianity,  but  Christianity  created  the  New 
Testament.  These  books  are  only  the  record  of  things  said 
and  done,  and  are  the  consequence  and  not  the  cause  of 
the  history  they  relate.  They  are  bits  of  literature  float¬ 
ing  on  the  stream  of  early  Christianity  that  issued  out  of 
the  ministry  and  especially  out  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  and  they  no  more  created  this  stream  than  all  the 
books  written  about  Niagara  have  created  that  river  and 
its  cataract,  or  than  any  history  creates  the  facts  it  records. 

Christianity  began  before  there  was  any  single  book 
about  it;  and  it  would  have  gone  on  had  no  book  about 
it  ever  been  written.  Of  course  without  the  aid  of  the  New 

41 


42 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Testament,  Christianity  would  not  have  come  down  to  us 
in  the  same  certainty  and  clearness,  volume  and  power, 
but  its  living  tradition  would  have  carried  it  far  down  the 
stream  of  time ;  just  as  the  British  Empire  has  no  written 
constitution,  but  it  does  have  a  deep  and  powerful  stream 
of  national  tradition  and  life  that  carries  it  through  the 
centuries. 

It  startles  us  even  yet  to  recall  the  fact  that  there  was 
no  book  or  line  of  the  New  Testament  in  existence  during 
all  the  earliest  years  of  Christianity.  Although  Jesus  is 
the  central  fact  and  figure  in  the  New  Testament  and  it 
is  all  written  about  him,  yet  he  wrote  not  a  word  of  it  and 
had  no  Bible  but  the  Old  Testament.  We  have  no  record 
of  his  writing  anything  except  a  few  words  in  the  dust 
which  some  passing  foot  or  breeze  quickly  obliterated.  He 
seemed  to  be  quite  careless  about  his  words,  tossing  them 
out  upon  the  air  and  letting  others  catch  them  up  and  put 
them  on  record. 

Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  did  not  have  a  page  or 
word  of  the  New  Testament  but  chose  his  text  from  an  Old 
Testament  prophet. 

The  apostles  all  went  forth  preaching  the  gospel  without 
any  one  of  the  four  Gospels  in  their  hands  or  possibly  with¬ 
out  any  written  record  at  all.  They  simply  told  the  story 
of  the  life  and  teaching  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  from 
memory,  speaking  as  eyewitnesses  and  declaring  ‘‘That 
which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which 
we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and 
our  hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  life”  (I  John 
1:1).  Paul  never  quotes  or  alludes  to  any  one  of  our  Gos¬ 
pels  or  any  New  Testament  book  because  no  one  of  them 
was  in  existence  until  near  the  end  of  his  ministry.  These 
first  Christians  and  preachers  had  the  gospel  in  their 
minds  and  hearts  and  were  themselves  living  gospels,  and 
the  living  truth  was  at  first  the  only  form  of  the  truth. 

Yet  the  New  Testament  now  contains  the  teachings  and 
life  and  work  of  Christ  and  the  early  history  of  the  gos¬ 
pel,  and  these  are  the  foundation  on  which  Christianity 
rests  and  the  fountain  out  of  which  it  flows,  and  these 
books  bring  the  gospel  to  us  in  its  original  form  in  which 
it  is  still  fresh  and  vital  with  its  original  life.  The  New 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


43 


Testament  is  our  most  fruitful  and  powerful  means  of 
grace  and  blessing  and  is  therefore  incomparably  the  most 
important  book  in  our  hands.  More  than  any  other  book 
its  words  are  spirit  and  life. 

It  surprises  many  readers  of  the  New  Testament  to  dis¬ 
cover  that  the  order  in  which  its  books  are  now  arranged 
was  not  the  order  in  which  they  were  written.  It  is  com¬ 
monly  thought  that  Matthew’s  Gospel  was  written  first, 
and  so  on  in  the  present  order  until  Revelation,  which  was 
written  last. 

But  this  was  not  at  all  the  order  in  which  these  books 
were  produced.  It  is  obvious  that  some  of  Paul’s  Epistles 
were  written  before  any  of  the  Gospels,  because  he  was 
converted  and  began  his  missionary  work  a  few  years 
after  the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ,  before  any 
of  the  Gospels  had  appeared. 

Scholars  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  order  in  which  these 
books  were  produced,  but  they  generally  agree  that  either 
Paul’s  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  or  his  First  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians  was  the  first  New  Testament  book  to  be 
written.  But  various  orders  of  arrangement  were  in  use 
in  the  second  and  third  Christian  centuries,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  fourth  century  that  the  Canon  was  finally 
settled  and  the  present  order  became  fixed. 

There  is  a  great  justification  for  the  present  arrange¬ 
ment  of  these  books  in  that  they  follow  the  general  his¬ 
torical  order.  The  Gospels  necesarily  come  first  in  the 
order  of  their  events  and  then  the  Acts  and  then  the 
Epistles,  because  this  follows  the  order  of  their  chronology. 
It  is  confusing  to  the  ordinary  reader  or  student  to  break 
this  arrangement  up  and  adopt  another,  and  therefore  we 
shall  follow  this  natural  and  familiar  order  in  our  study 
of  these  books. 


CHAPTER  II 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  GOSPELS 

The  Four  Gospels  are  the  root  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  fountain  of  its  essential  facts  and  faith,  and  all  the 
other  books  are  the  expansion  and  fruitage  of  this  root, 
the  broadening  stream  of  this  fountain.  We  begin  their 
study  by  considering  some  of  their  general  characteristics. 

1.  The  Historicity  of  the  Gospels 

The  question  of  the  historical  trustworthiness  of  the 
Gospels  confronts  us  at  the  threshold  of  our  study.  The 
final  decision  of  this  question  logically  comes  after  we 
have  gone  through  them  and  critically  examined  them ;  but 
we  can  take  n  preliminary  general  look  at  them  and  get  a 
broad  impression  of  their  truthfulness. 

The  question  is,  Are  these  books  late  productions,  writ¬ 
ten  long  after  the  events  they  record  and  evidently  the 
outgrowth  of  tradition  and  legend?  If  so,  their  historical 
value  is  greatly  reduced. 

But  they  are  not  late  books.  There  is  good  ground  for 
believing,  as  we  shall  see,  that  Mark,  the  earliest  Gospel, 
was  written  within  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  after  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  still  earlier  writings  derived  from 
eyewitnesses  were  in  existence,  as  is  seen  by  Luke ’s  preface 
to  his  Gospel.  This  date  is  close  enough  to  the  events  to 
give  us  a  trustworthy  history  of  them  and  too  close  for  the 
growth  of  legend  and  myth. 

But  at  present  we  are  concerned  chiefly  with  the  general 
impression  these  Gospels  make  upon  us ;  for  we  can  judge 
much  as  to  the  consistency  and  reality  and  trustworthiness 
of  a  narrative  from  the  mere  reading  of  it. 

Let  the  student  read  one  of  them  through,  say  the 
Gospel  of  Mark,  which  can  be  read  at  a  single  sitting. 

44 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


45 


How  does  it  impress  us?  As  sober  history  keeping  down 
on  the  ground  of  reality.  The  writers  of  these  Gospels 
impress  us  as  having  competent  knowledge  of  the  facts, 
either  as  eyewitnesses  or  as  investigators  who  were  close 
to  the  facts,  and  as  being  men  of  honesty  and  sound  judg¬ 
ment,  insight  and  sincerity,  who  had  no  other  motive  or 
purpose  than  to  tell  us  the  simple  truth.  Seldom  do  we 
read  writers  that  are  so  free  from  subjective  influences 
and  so  transparent  in  their  truthfulness.  While  no  one  of 
them  was  a  learned  scholar  and  one  was  a  tax  collector 
and  another  was  a  fisherman,  yet  they  were  men  of  sanity 
and  sound  sense  who  were  fully  competent  to  judge  and 
record  plain  matters  of  fact. 

These  narratives  have  all  the  telltale  self-evidencing 
marks  of  reality.  They  give  details  of  persons  and  places 
and  dates,  events  and  incidents,  in  their  due  order  and 
connection.  None  of  the  stuff  of  invention  and  imagina¬ 
tion,  legend  and  myth,  is  woven  into  their  web.  The 
things  that  would  almost  certainly  have  been  pushed  into 
prominence  in  an  invented  story  are  conspicuous  by  their 
absence.  Facts  are  recorded  which  would  have  been 
carefully  glossed  over  or  suppressed  in  a  partisan  account 
or  fictitious  narrative.  The  most  damaging  facts,  such  as 
that  the  disciples  at  first  disbelieved  and  ridiculed  the 
reports  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  an  idle  tale,  are 
boldly  written  down  on  their  pages. 

The  outstanding  feature  of  these  narratives  is  that  they 
have  none  of  the  inescapable  marks  of  vision  and  ecstasy, 
invention  and  legend,  which  are  careless  of  order  and 
system,  causes  and  consequences,  and  unmindful  and  un¬ 
conscious  of  contradictions  and  impossibilities  as  they 
weave  all  sorts  of  incongruities  and  absurdities  into  the 
subjective  fabric  of  desire.  These  writers  and  witnesses  1 
do  not  lose  touch  with  the  earth  and  take  to  the  wings  of 
fancy;  on  the  contrary,  due  allowance  being  made  for  the 
supernatural  events  they  are  relating,  they  keep  close  to 
sober  reality  and  concrete  details,  follow  the  necessary 
connection  of  things,  and  observe  the  order  and  unity  and 
harmony  of  normal  human  experience  and  historic  fact. 
We  are  familiar  with  the  glowing  pictures  that  are  pro¬ 
duced  when  imagination  works  with  palette  and  brush. 


46 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Such  artistry  is  absent  from  these  narratives.  In  a  word, 
the  Gospels  have  all  the  simplicity  and  artlessness  of  un¬ 
affected  truth,  and  these  inimitable  signs  of  veracity  are 
so  many  seals  authenticating  their  trustworthiness. 

Another  general  impression  may  be  derived  from  the 
life  of  Jesus  as  depicted  in  the  Gospels.  The  portrait  of 
his  life  and  ministry  and  character  is  there  as  an  existing 
fact.  How  did  it  get  there?  It  must  be  accounted  for. 
We  must  suppose  either  that  it  is  a  transcript  of  a  reality, 
or  else  that  in  some  way  it  was*  an  invention  of  later  days. 

But  who  could  have  invented  such  a  portrait,  so  life¬ 
like  and  wonderful,  composed  of  such  various  features, 
some  of  which,  such  as  the  contrasted  virtues  of  meekness 
and  manliness,  justice  and  love,  are  difficult  of  consistent 
composition,  and  yet  are  combined  and  blended  into  perfect 
proportion  and  harmony?  Where  was  the  genius  that 
could  create  out  of  imagination  or  weave  out  of  tradition 
and  myth  a  portrait  of  such  remarkable  verisimilitude  and 
appealing  beauty  and  compelling  power  which  for  near 
two  thousand  years  has  put  a  spell  upon  the  world  as  a 
reality?  It  is  easier  to  believe  that  the  picture  of  Christ 
is  in  the  Gospels  only  because  these  writers,  humble  un¬ 
lettered  men  devoid  of  literary  training  and  art,  simply 
painted  the  portrait  from  life  and  told  what  they  saw. 

On  the  general  historicity  of  the  Gospels  we  here  give 
one  of  the  latest  and  most  authoritative  deliverances  of 
critical  scholarship.  The  Rev.  Arthur  C.  Headlam,  D.D., 
now  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  but  formerly  Regius  Professor 
of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  in  his  recent  Life 
and  Teaching  of  Jesus  the  Christ,  sums  up  the  results  of 
his  long  study  of  the  Gospels  as  follows:  “I  have  aimed, 
in  the  first  place,  at  showing  that,  accepting  the  results 
of  modern  criticism,  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that 
the  subject-matter  of  the  first  three  Gospels  represents  the 
traditions  about  the  life  and  work  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as 
they  were  current  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  Christian 
church.  Then,  secondly,  that  it  harmonizes  with  all  that  we 
know  of  the  times  when  Jesus  lived  and  the  environment 
in  which  he  taught.  Thirdly,  that  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
is  harmonious  throughout,  natural  in  its  language  and 
form  to  the  circumstances  and  representing  a  unity  of 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


47 


thought  transcending  anything  that  had  existed  before. 
And  then,  fourthly,  that  the  life  as  narrated  forms  a  con¬ 
sistent  whole.  The  result  of  these  investigations  is  to 
satisfy  myself,  at  any  rate,  that  we  have  a  trustworthy 
account  of  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus.” 

From  this  preliminary  view  we  may  accept  these  Gospels 
as  trustworthy  historical  documents,  but  this  conclusion 
will  be  strengthened  as  we  proceed  with  our  study. 

2.  The  Interrelations  of  the  Gospel 

The  problem  of  the  interrelations  of  the  Four  Gospels 
is  one  of  great  interest  and  importance. 

In  order  to  compare  the  Gospels,  it  is  best  to  study  them 
as  they  are  arranged  in  parallel  columns  in  a  harmony, 
such  as  Stevens  and  Burton’s  Harmony  of  the  Gospels, 
which  will  be  used  and  referred  to  in  this  connection. 

We  soon  discover  that  the  Gospel  of  John  stands  apart 
from  the  first  three  Gospels  in  that  there  is  missing  in 
John’s  column  much  that  is  present  in  the  others,  while 
there  are  many  passages  and  sections,  and  even  whole 
pages  that  are  peculiar  to  John.  Evidently  the  Fourth 
Gospel  covers  a  special  field  and  has  a  special  object  in 
view  in  its  narrative  of  the  life  of  Christ. 

Examination  soon  discloses  the  fact  that  John  deals  more 
in  interpretation  of  the  words  of  Jesus  and  is  especially 
interested  in  his  inner  life  as  compared  with  the  other 
Gospels.  The  first  three  Gospels  keep  to  plain  matters 
of  fact,  while  the  Fourth  breathes  a  mystical  spirit  in 
tone  and  temper.  John  takes  us  more  closely  into  the  inner 
thought  of  Jesus  and  his  confidential  relations  with  the 
disciples.  The  Fourth  Gospel  is  also  of  much  later  date 
than  the  others.  For  these  reasons  this  Gospel  may  be  set 
aside  for  the  present,  and  we  proceed  with  the  special 
interrelations  of  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke. 

These  three  Gospels  give  an  outline  or  synopsis  of  the 
life  of  Jesus,  and  are  therefore  called  the  Synoptic  Gospels 
or  the  Synoptics.  How  are  they  related  ?  Did  Matthew  in 
writing  his  Gospel  have  Mark’s  or  Luke’s  Gospel,  and  did 
Mark  have  Matthew  or  Luke,  and  did  Luke  have  Matthew 
or  Mark?  Did  each  one  write  entirely  independently  of 
the  others,  or  did  each  have  one  or  both  of  the  others? 


48 


THE  MAKING-  AND  MEANING 


This  question  was  for  a  long  time  an  unsolved  problem,  and 
all  possible  combinations  and  solutions  have  been  tried  out. 
Yet  the  key  to  the  problem,  which  has  been  discovered 
only  in  modern  times,  is  simple  enough  when  we  once 
see  it. 

A  study  of  the  Harmony  will  disclose  the  secret.  It 
will  be  observed  that  Matthew  begins  his  Gospel  with  the 
genealogy  of  Jesus,  and  proceeds  to  give  the  annunciation 
to  Joseph,  the  birth  of  Jesus,  the  visit  of  the  wise  men, 
the  flight  into  Egypt  and  the  return  to  Nazareth. 

Luke  has  a  different  order  and  only  at  three  points  does 
he  touch  Matthew’s  order  as  they  are  arranged  in  parallel 
columns.  Luke  begins  with  his  preface  and  proceeds  to 
give  the  promise  of  the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist,  the 
annunciation  to  Mary,  Mary’s  visit  to  Elizabeth,  the  birth 
of  John  the  Baptist,  the  birth  of  Jesus  with  the  accompani¬ 
ments  of  the  angels  and  the  shepherds,  the  circumcision  of 
Jesus  and  his  presentation  in  the  temple,  and  the  child¬ 
hood  and  youth  of  Jesus  at  Nazareth. 

The  only  three  points  at  which  they  touch  and  run 
parallel  in  the  same  events  are  the  genealogies,  which  are 
yet  different  in  the  two,  the  birth  of  Jesus  at  Bethlehem, 
and  the  childhood  at  Nazareth.  The  two  narratives  are 
not  at  all  contradictory,  but  it  is  plain  that  each  follows 
its  own  order  and  selects  its  own  events,  and  the  three 
parallel  columns  coincide  in  only  three  brief  widely- 
separated  sections. 

But  as  soon  as  we  arrive  at  the  opening  of  Mark’s  Gospel 
the  three  columns  appear  and  run  side  by  side  in  general 
continuity  until  we  reach  the  end  of  Mark,  when  Matthew 
and  Luke  again  part  company  and  each  follows  his  own 
order  and  tells  his  own  story  to  the  end. 

What  is  the  evident  explanation  of  this  remarkable  fact  ? 
It  is  just  this  that  Matthew  and  Luke  had  Mark  in  hand 
in  writing  their  Gospels  and  followed  his  order  and  used 
his  materials.  We  may  accept  with  confidence  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  Mark  was  the  first  Gospel  written  and  that 
Matthew  and  Luke  wwote  later  and  used  Mark. 

This  conclusion  is  strengthened  by  a  closer  examination 
of  the  parallel  columns  in  the  Harmony.  Two  thirds  of 
Mark’s  Gospel  is  reproduced  in  both  Matthew  and  Luke, 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


49 


and  of  the  remaining  one  third,  all  but  30  verses  is  found 
in  either  Matthew  or  Luke.  All  of  Mark  except  55  verses 
is  found  in  Matthew,  and  all  except  129  verses  is  found  in 
Luke,  and  74  of  these  are  found  in  one  passage,  6 : 45 — 
8:26.  The  only  explanation  of  these  facts  is  that  Matthew 
and  Luke  had  Mark  and  utilized  his  material. 

There  is  also  a  considerable  body  of  material  common  to 
Matthew  and  Luke  which  is  not  found  in  Mark.  Some  of 
these  passages  are  specially  important  and  include  the 
preaching  of  John  the  Baptist  (Matt.  3:  7-12;  Luke 
3:7-9);  the  temptation  of  Jesus  (Matt.  4:3-10;  Luke 
4:  3-13)  ;  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  5-7 ;  Luke 
6).  About  fifty  of  these  passages  that  are  common  to 
Matthew  and  Luke  but  are  not  found  in  Mark  have  been 
noted. 

The  probable  explanation  of  this  fact  is  that  Matthew 
and  Luke  also  used  some  other  common  document  besides 
Mark.  This  unknown  common  source  is  called  by  scholars 
Q,  being  the  contraction  of  the  German  Quelle ,  meaning 
source.  It  is  true  that  this  common  material  may  have 
been  drawn  by  Matthew  and  Luke  from  more  than  one 
source,  and  the  problem  at  this  point  begins  to  grow  com¬ 
plex  and  uncertain.  As  we  know  from  Luke’s  preface 
that  other  writings  or  gospels  were  in  existence  which  he 
used,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Matthew  and  Luke  had  one 
or  more  such  common  sources. 

Attempts  have  been  made  by  piecing  together  the  pass¬ 
ages  that  constitute  Q  to  reconstruct  this  document,  but 
with  small  success,  as  the  passages  are  evidently  frag¬ 
mentary.  An  examination  of  these  passages,  however, 
makes  it  appear  that  this  source  was  mainly  composed  of 
the  sayings  and  sermons  of  Jesus. 

We  may  then  conclude  that  Mark’s  Gospel  was  written 
first,  and  that  Matthew  and  Luke  used  his  Gospel  in  writ¬ 
ing  theirs  and  that  they  also  used  one  or  more  other 
common  sources. 

Another  question  at  this  point  is,  Did  Matthew  have 
Luke,  or  Luke  have  Matthew?  The  evidence  on  this  point 
strongly  indicates  that  these  two  Gospels  are  independent 
of  each  other,  the  writer  of  each  having  no  knowledge  of 
the  other. 


50 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


3.  Can  the  Gospels  Be  Harmonized 

As  we  look  at  the  Gospels  arranged  in  the  Harmony 
the  question  forces  itself  upon  us,  Can  they  be  harmonized  ? 
The  question  assumes  two  forms. 

First,  what  is  the  meaning  of  these  gaps  in  the  columns 
where  the  several  narratives  do  not  coincide  and  one  has 
matter  which  one  or  more  of  the  others  omit?  How  does 
it  come  that  only  Matthew  and  Luke  have  the  genealogies 
and  the  virgin  birth  of  Jesus,  that  only  Luke  has  the  ac¬ 
count  of  the  angels  and  shepherds,  and  that  only  Matthew 
has  the  visit  of  the  wise  men  and  the  flight  into  Egypt  in 
connection  with  his  birth,  and  so  on  to  the  end?  How  can 
it  be  that  Mark  says  nothing  of  the  birth  and  early  years 
of  Jesus  and  starts  right  off  with  his  public  appearance 
and  ministry?  Why  is  it  that  so  important  a  matter  as 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  entirely  absent  in  Mark  and 
John,  and  that  many  parables  and  miracles  are  found  in 
one  and  not  in  another  Gospel?  How  did  it  happen  that 
Luke  has  a  long  section  extending  through  nearly  eight 
chapters  (11-18  :  8)  that  no  other  evangelist  records?  And 
especially  how  can  we  account  for  the  fact  that  John  so 
seldom  has  material  in  common  with  the  three  synoptics 
and  that  so  much  of  his  narrative,  including  some  of  the 
most  important  and  precious  portions  of  the  Gospel,  such 
as  John  14-17,  is  peculiar  to  himself?  These  facts  look 
surprising  if  not  startling. 

And  yet  the  explanation  is  not  difficult.  This  explana¬ 
tion  is  that  each  evangelist  had  access  to  different  sources 
or  had  a  larger  body  of  material  than  he  used,  and  he 
selected  and  incorporated  in  his  Gospel  such  portions  as 
suited  his  point  of  view  and  purpose.  No  one  of  these 
writers  was  attempting  a  full  biography  of  Jesus  in  the 
modern  sense,  but  each  one  was  giving  an  impressionistic 
account  with  a  particular  end  in  view,  which  will  appear 
later  in  this  study.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  but  quite  in 
accordance  with  their  purpose  and  with  literary  art  that 
these  writers  should  produce  narratives  of  the  same  life 
that  coincide  only  in  sections  and  at  points. 

We  see  the  same  fact  in  books  of  biography  and  history 
written  today.  No  two  biographers  or  historians  of  the 
same  personage  or  period  will  follow  the  same  outline  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


51 


give  the  same  facts.  Open  two  or  four  or  a  dozen  Lives 
of  Lincoln  and  the  same  apparent  lack  of  continuity  and 
identity  in  the  narratives  is  conspicuous ;  and  if  they  were 
arranged  in  a  harmony  in  parallel  columns  they  would 
show  gaps  and  difficulties  as  great  as  or  greater  than,  what 
we  find  in  the  Gospels.  Yet  the  many  Lives  of  Lincoln  do 
combine  into  one  consistent  picture  of  the  man  that  is 
fuller  and  richer  than  any  Life  by  one  author  can  be. 

So  these  four  brief  Lives  of  Jesus,  each  of  which  is  in¬ 
complete  and  fragmentary  and  gives  only  glimpses  of  him 
from  a  special  point  of  view,  do  fit  together  and  comple¬ 
ment  one  another  so  as  to  give  a  composite  but  consistent 
and  lifelike  portrait  of  the  one  Person  who  is  the  common 
subject  of  them  all.  And  the  portrait  is  all  the  richer  be¬ 
cause  it  is  composite. 

A  second  question  relates  to  the  harmony  of  the  Gospels 
in  so  far  as  they  do  run  parallel.  Seldom  is  the  parallel 
so  close  as  to  be  a  coincidence,  but  there  are  thousands  of 
verbal  variations,  even  when  the  evangelists  are  reporting 
the  words  of  Jesus.  Such  verbal  variations,  however,  are 
of  small  importance  and  do  not  affect  the  validity  of  the 
narrative. 

More  important  are  variations  that  seem  to  involve  inac¬ 
curate  and  inconsistent  statements.  Reference  has  been 
made  to'  the  275  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
New,  but  rarety  are  these  quotations  verbally  exact  and 
are  often  only  loose  paraphrases  and  accommodations  of 
the  originals.  Mark  begins  his  Gospel  with  a  quotation 
which  is  stated  to  be  from  Isaiah,  yet  the  first  part  of  it 
is  from  Malachi  and  only  the  second  part  of  it  is  from 
Isaiah.  But,  to  say  nothing  of  the  mistakes  of  copyists, 
the  explanation  of  such  facts  is  that  the  common  usage 
did  not  require  ancient  writers  to  be  exact  in  their  quota¬ 
tions  as  it  does  with  us,  and  the  evangelists  simply  con¬ 
formed  to  the  literary  rules  of  their  day. 

Other  variations  may  be  magnified  into  more  serious 
differences.  The  different  evangelists  often  locate  the  same 
events  and  teachings  at  different  times  and  places,  or  they 
state  them  differently.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  lo¬ 
cated  differently  by  Matthew  and  by  Luke,  but  possibly 
Jesus  repeated  the  substance  of  it  on  different  occasions. 


52 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


The  Lord ’s  Prayer  is  given  in  a  longer  and  a  shorter  form, 
but  the  same  explanation  may  apply  to  this. 

Matthew  says  that  two  blind  men  appealed  to  Jesns  as 
he  was  going  out  of  Jericho,  but  Mark  and  Luke  mention 
only  one,  and  Luke  says  the  incident  occurred  as  Jesus 
was  drawing  nigh  to  the  place.  But  there  is  little  diffi¬ 
culty  in  such  a  case,  for  if  there  were  two  blind  men,  then 
there  was  one.  Such  differences  do  not  disturb  us  in  other 
books. 

One  of  the  most  serious  of  these  variations  relates  to  the 
accounts  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  Much  has  been 
made  of  different  statements  in  the  narratives  of  this  event 
as  though  they  amounted  to  irreconcilable  contradictions. 
Mark  mentions  three  women  as  going  to  the  tomb  on  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection,  Matthew  mentions  two,  and 
John  mentions  only  one.  But  again  we  may  say  that  if 
there  were  three,  then  there  certainly  were  two  and  also 
one.  All  the  evangelists  give  an  account  of  the  appear¬ 
ances  of  Jesus  at  Jerusalem,  but  it  is  said  that  only 
Matthew  and  John  know  of  his  appearances  in  Galilee. 
Yet  these  differences  are  harmonized  if  he  appeared  in 
both  places. 

One  gets  the  impression,  when  these  differences  are 
fairly  considered,  that  they  have  been  overstrained  in 
order  to  magnify  them  into  contradictions.  Again  we  must 
emphasize  the  fact  that  the  evangelists  were  not  composing 
a  systematic  and  complete  history  of  these  events,  and  are 
not  even  trying  to  arrange  and  set  forth  the  facts  so  as 
to  prove  them,  but  are  only  giving  personal  experiences 
and  impressions  from  their  different  points  of  view.  And 
hence  we  have  only  disconnected  incidents  and  fragments 
of  the  entire  story,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  cannot 
put  these  broken  pieces  together  so  as  to  make  them  fit 
around  the  ragged  edges  when  other  parts  are  missing 
that  might  complete  and  harmonize  the  whole. 

These  differences  also  are  generally  such  as  should  be 
found  in  independent  accounts.  If  all  these  writers  related 
the  story  in  precisely  the  same  way,  this  would  throw 
suspicion  on  them  all  as  having  been  in  collusion  or  as 
simply  copying  one  another.  No  two  men  will  tell  their 
experience  of  an  event  in  just  the  same  words.  While  they 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


53 


relate  substantially  the  same  story,  yet  they  will  differ 
in  their  points  of  view  and  shading  and  emphasis,  one 
relating  one  incident  that  another  omits,  or  setting  it  in  a 
different  light. 

These  individualistic  variations  in  the  Gospels  are  strong 
indications  of  truthfulness.  It  is  mostly  such  differences 
that  exist  in  these  narratives.  It  is  not  at  all  strange  that 
the  evangelists  that  were  eyewitnesses  of  the  risen  Christ 
had  each  one  more  vivid  recollections  of  some  of  the  hap¬ 
penings  of  that  wonderful  day,  surcharged  with  the  excite¬ 
ment  of  unexpected  and  unbelievable  events,  than  of  others 
and  that  some  of  them  have  emphasized  the  appearances 
at  Jerusalem  and  others  those  in  Galilee.  They  may  differ 
widely  and  even  seriously  at  such  points,  and  yet  all  be 
telling  the  truth,  which  fuller  light  would  make  plain  to 
us.  There  is  such  substantial  agreement  among  them  that 
we  feel  sure  of  their  testimony  to  the  essential  facts.  Such 
agreement  satisfies  us  in  historical  matters. 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  there  are  variations  and  dis¬ 
crepancies  in  the  Gospels,  some  of  which  have  not  yet  been 
reconciled,  yet  these  are  unimportant  in  comparison  with 
their  general  agreement  and  do  not  impair  the  substantial 
truth  and  value  of  their  testimony. 

Our  conclusion  then  is  that  the  Four  Gospels  stand  the 
light  of  examination  and  are  shown  to  be  trustworthy 
historical  documents.  They  have  been  under  the  fiercest 
test  of  criticism  for  centuries  and  have  held  their  place  in 
the  field  of  scholarship  and  in  the  faith  of  the  Christian 
world.  Scholars  are  not  unanimous  in  their  views  in  all 
these  points,  and  there  are  yet  unexplained  remainders 
to  be  cleared  up  in  New  Testament  criticism,  but  we  have 
solid  ground  on  which  to  hold  that  these  Gospels  are  not 
cunningly  devised  fables  but  are  an  honest  record  of  things 
that  were  not  done  in  a,  corner  and  are  not  afraid  of  the 
light  of  day. 

4.  The  Dates  of  the  Gospels 

The  three  synoptic  Gospels  are  so  interrelated  and  linked 
together,  as  we  have  seen,  that  their  dates  become  a  com¬ 
mon  problem,  while  the  date  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  being 
much  later,  can  be  set  aside  until  we  come  to  its  particular 


54 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


study.  If  we  can  fix  the  date  of  one  of  the  synoptics  we 
can  draw  some  conclusions  as  to  the  dates  of  the  others. 

A  base  line  at  this  point  is  the  date  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  The  author  of  this  book  is  Luke,  the  traveling 
companion  of  Paul,  who  appears  in  the  narrative  at  chapter 
16 : 10  where  he  includes  himself  with  Paul  under  the 
designation  “we.”  The  Acts  from  this  point  on  is  prac¬ 
tically  the  biography  of  Paul  by  Luke,  and  Luke  closes 
it  with  Paul  under  arrest  in  Rome  waiting  for  his  trial, 
which  probably  did  not  occur  until  after  his  release  and 
further  work  as  a  missionary  and  his  second  arrest  and 
final  trial  and  execution. 

The  inference  is  therefore  direct  and  strong  that  Luke 
wrote  the  Acts  before  the  final  trial  and  death  of  Paul ; 
for  if  he  completed  his  biography  of  Paul  after  this  event 
he  would  certainly  have  given  an  account  of  it.  We  can¬ 
not  think  of  a  biographer  of  Lincoln,  writing  after  his 
death,  concluding  his  book  without  a  reference  to  this 
tragical  event. 

Paul  was  executed  in  Rome  under  Nero,  who  died  in 
68  A.  D.,  and  the  death  of  Paul  has  been  placed  at  64  and 
the  date  of  the  Acts  at  or  near  62.  But  Luke  wrote  his 
Gospel  before  he  wrote  the  Acts,  as  we  learn  from  his 
preface  to  the  Acts,  and  its  date  must  be  placed  near  60. 
Mark’s  Gospel  is  still  earlier  than  Luke’s,  as  we  have  seen, 
and  therefore,  its  date  falls  between  55  and  60.  This  line 
of  reasoning  and  these  dates  have  behind  them  the  weighty 
authority  of  Harnack  and  many  other  scholars. 

This  date  of  Mark  is  supported  by  the  contents  of  the 
Gospel,  especially  by  the  fact  that  it  was  clearly  written 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  in  70, 
as  it  contains  no  reference  to  that  cataclysmic  event  except 
Christ’s  prophetic  prediction  of  it.  The  date  of  Matthew 
comes  after  Mark,  but  cannot  be  so  clearly  fixed.  It  was 
probably  written  in  its  original  form  before  or  near  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  may  have  undergone  some 
later  editing. 

We  may  then  date  the  synoptic  Gospels  at  from  55  to 
70  A.  D.,  and  this  takes  them  back  of  the  region  of  legend 
and  myth  into  trustworthy  historical  connection  with  their 
contents  and  with  eyewitnesses. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


55 


5.  Why  Four  Gospels 

The  question  arises  how  there  came  to  be  just  four 
Gospels.  Fanciful  reasons  for  this  fact  were  given  in  early 
times,  such  as  that  they  correspond  with  the  four  seasons 
or  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  and  so  on.  There  is,  how¬ 
ever,  nothing  mysterious  or  even  remarkable  in  the  fact. 
Every  great  man  has  many  biographies  written  of  him, 
and  the  same  historical  and  literary  instinct  prompted 
“many  to  set  forth  a  declaration  of  those  things’ ’  which 
were  surely  believed  among  the  first  Christians,  as  Luke 
says  in  his  preface  to  his  Gospel.  Our  Four  Gospels,  then, 
are  a  selection  from  a  much  larger  number  which  have 
been  lost.  It  is  not  impossible  that  one  or  more  of  these  lost 
Gospels  may  yet  be  found. 

It  is  a  fortunate  event  that  we  have  these  Four  Gospels, 
for  we  thus  have  as  many  separate  portraits  of  our  Lord 
that  complement  and  complete  one  another.  The  absence 
of  any  one  of  these  would  be  an  enormous  loss  and  im¬ 
poverishment  to  our  knowledge  of  Jesus,  and  it  takes  all 
of  them  fused  into  unity  to  give  us  anything  like  a  full 
and  rich  and  adequate  appreciation  and  apprehension  of 
him.  For  these  evangelists  did  not  simply  reproduce  or 
copy  one  another,  but  each  one  wrote  from  his  own  point  of 
view  out  of  his  personal  experience  and  for  his  own  pur¬ 
pose.  They  thus  give  us  so  many  supplementary  views 
and  interpretations  of  the  same  Person.  They  pass  the 
manifold  contents  and  colors  of  the  life  and  ministry  of 
Jesus  through  the  prisms  of  their  peculiar  minds  and  give 
us  combined  a  more  glorious  spectrum  of  his  person  and 
character;  or  their  superimposed  pictures  combine  and 
blend  into  a  composite  portrait  that  is  fuller  and  richer. 

Each  evangelist  wrote  for  his  own  audience  and  with 
his  own  object  in  view,  as  will  appear  later.  Matthew 
wrote  more  especially  for  the  Jewish  converts  to  convince 
them  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah  of  the  old  Testament.  Mark 
wrote  in  Rome  under  the  direction  of  Peter  to  present 
Jesus  to  the  Gentiles  as  a  mighty  worker  and  Saviour. 
Luke  wrote  primarily  to  convince  a  Roman  friend  of  the 
certainty  of  the  things  of  the  Gospel,  but  being  a  physician 
and  scholar  and  a  Greek,  he  addressed  a  wider  audience. 
John  wrote  for  the  church  to  give  an  interpretative  por- 


56 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


trait  of  Christ  as  the  Word  who  abides  in  mystical  union 
with  believers. 

These  four  points  of  view  are  distinct  yet  are  comple¬ 
mentary,  and  no  one  of  them  could  be  missed  without 
marring  the  composite  picture  in  a  serious  degree :  fused 
together  they  present  that  wonderful  Life  that  is  the 
praise  of  the  ages  and  has  put  its  spell  on  all  these  Chris¬ 
tian  generations. 

The  Christian  centuries  and  world  have  been  largely 
guided  and  shaped  and  inspired  by  these  four  brief 
pamphlets,  any  one  of  which  can  be  read  through  at  a 
sitting.  But  brief  as  they  are,  they  are  charged  with 
infinitely  precious  significance.  Many  a  classic  of  Greek 
and  Roman  literature  has  been  lost  and  buried  in  the  dust 
of  the  ages,  but  these  four  little  writings  have  come  down 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  centuries  that  have  con¬ 
vulsed  continents  and  wrecked  empires  unscathed  and  are 
as  fresh  and  vital  as  ever.  There  is  something  in  them 
that  the  world  will  not  let  die.  When  the  early  Christians 
connected  these  Four  Gospels  with  cosmic  agents  such  as 
the  seasons  and  the  winds  they  were  guided  by  a  true 
instinct,  for  they  are  human  in  form  yet  superhuman  in 
contents  and  are  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

6.  Miracles  in  the  Gospels 

There  are  accounts  of  miracles  incorporated  in  all  the 
Four  Gospels  and  it  may  be  well  to  dispose  of  the  question 
of  their  reality  in  this  place. 

A  miracle  may  be  defined  as  an  event  in  the  physical 
world  not  explainable  by  known  natural  laws  or  human 
agency,  wrought  for  a  worthy  religious  object,  and  there¬ 
fore  to  be  attributed  to  the  special  act  of  God  to  authenti¬ 
cate  his  redemptive  presence  and  work  among  men. 

That  there  are  such  signs  recorded  in  the  Bible  is  plain 
enough,  but  they  are  not  nearly  so  plentiful  as  is  com¬ 
monly  supposed.  Many  appear  to  think  that  the  Bible  is 
full  of  miracles  and  that  they  just  dripped  from  the 
fingers  of  Jesus.  But  they  are  comparatively  few  and 
scarce  in  the  Bible,  and  only  about  thirty  are  attributed  to 
Jesus  and  about  one  third  of  these  are  instances  of  healing, 
some  of  which  may  not  have  been  strictly  miraculous  but 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


57 


within  the  bounds  of  natural  agencies.  Not  every  “won¬ 
der”  or  “sign”  was  a  miracle,  and  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
draw  the  line  between  where  the  natural  leaves  off  and  the 
supernatural  begins. 

Jesus  was  possessed  of  extraordinary  powers  of  per¬ 
sonality  and  did  not  ordinarily  draw  upon  his  super¬ 
natural  power  to  accomplish  his  purposes,  but  kept  well 
within  his  human  limitations,  as  is  illustrated  in  his 
temptations  in  the  wilderness.  He  used  miracles  charily 
and  kept  them  in  the  background  and  refused  to  permit 
them  to  be  exploited  as  mere  wonders.  Yet  that,  according 
to  the  Gospels,  he  did  work  miracles  in  the  supernatural 
sense  is  a  plain  matter  of  record. 

These  miracles  were  never  spectacular  or  absurd  and 
silly  performances,  such  as  the  alleged  miracles  attributed 
to  Jesus  in  the  apocryphal  gospels,  but  they  were  sober  and 
sane,  keeping  close  to  the  ground  of  nature  and  were  fitting 
and  worthy  works  of  the  Son  of  God.  Hisi  miracles  were 
always  proper  manifestations  of  his  divine  personality  and 
power  and  were  "wrought  as  illustrations  and  activities  of 
his  redemptive  presence  and  purpose.  That  they  did 
authenticate  his  divine  person  and  mission  was  only  an 
incidental  object  and  result.  They  were  integral  parts  of 
his  message  and  mission  and  are  not  to  be  separated  from 
them. 

The  miracles  of  Christ  must  not  be  dissociated  from  this 
framework  and  background  of  worthy  purpose.  A  mere 
wonder,  however  supernatural  it  might  seem,  that  was  un¬ 
related  to  any  such  worthy  end,  would  be  difficult  if  not 
impossible  of  proof ;  but  the  miracles  of|  our  Lord  fit  into 
his  divine  character  and  mission  and  are  consonant  there¬ 
with.  Any  historical  event  is  rational  and  capable  of 
proof  very  much  in  proportion  to  its  congruity  with  its 
environment  in  time  and  place  and  purpose,  and  in  the 
light  of  this  principle  the  miracles  of  Jesus  are  appropriate 
to  him  as  leaves  to  a  tree  or  as  light  to  the  sun,  and  there¬ 
fore  they  present  themselves  to  us  as  rational  events  ca¬ 
pable  of  proof,  and  this  proof  is  the  main  question  to  be 
considered. 

The  writers  of  the  Gospels  do  not  show  any  conscious 
anxiety  or  intention  to  prove  the  miracles  of  Jesus  by 


58 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


direct  evidence  and  argument  with  one  outstanding 
exception:  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord.  This  is  pushed 
out  into  the  light  of  publicity  and  supported  by  many 
witnesses  and  much  evidence  and  direct  argument  and  is 
thus  attested  “by  many  infallible  proofs”  (Acts  1:3). 
The  evangelists  all  narrate  it  with  fulness  and  particu¬ 
larly,  and  Paul  expressly  argues  it  and  stakes  the  whole 
Gospel  upon  it  (1  Cor.  15:1-20).  This  miracle  stands  as 
the  central  pillar  and  support  of  the  supernatural  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  as  long  as  it  stands  the  other  miracles 
will  stand  with  it.  He  who  could  raise  himself  from  the 
dead  could  also  with  perfect  mastery  and  ease  heal  the 
sick  and  still  the  stormy  sea.  The  detailed  examination 
of  this  epochal  event  in  the  life  of  Christ  will  come  up 
later  in  our  study,  and  it  is  here  adduced  as  a  central 
support  and  proof  of  the  miraculous  element  in  the 
Gospels. 

While  specific  proof  is  not  given  for  other  miracles  in 
the  Gospels,  yet  many  of  them  are  so  interwoven  with  the 
entire  web  of  the  account  that  they  could  not  be  dissected 
out  without  dismembering  and  destroying  the  whole  narra¬ 
tive.  If  any  such  conversation  as  is  recorded  in  John  9 
with  reference  to  the  restored  blind  man  took  place,  then 
the  miracle  of  opening  his  eyes  must  also  be  historical. 

The  relation  of  miracle  to  natural  law  calls  for  a  word. 
A  miracle  is  not  a  violation  of  natural  law  but  only  the 
intervention  of  a  higher  power  to  turn  natural  law  to  its 
own  purpose.  The  human  will  is  constantly  interposing 
its  presence  and  purpose  in  the  world  of  natural  law  and 
thereby  effecting  results  that  nature  itself  would  never 
accomplish.  One  cannot  close  a  window  or  lift  his  hand 
without  doing  something  that  is  strictly  supernatural ;  and 
what  man  can  do  in  his  finite  degree  and  way,  God  and 
God  in  Christ  can  do  in  his  perfect  way. 

Perhaps  the  chief  difficulty  the  modern  mind  feels  in 
connection  with  miracles  is  that  nature  is  viewed  as  a 
closed  and  rigid  system  of  mechanical  action  which  must 
proceed  in  its  determined  operations  and  cannot  be  inter¬ 
rupted  at  any  special  point  in  any  special  way. 

But  philosophy  views  nature,  not  as  a  closed  and  com¬ 
plete  world  in  itself,  but  as  a  part  of  a  larger  spiritual 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


59 


system  or  living  organism  in  which  God  is  immanent,  or 
as  the  mode  of  the  divine  activity,  and  then  physical  laws 
are  habits  of  the  divine  will  and  are  still  subject  to  special 
divine  purposes.  On  this  view,  miracles  are  such  special 
acts  and  fall  within  the  sweep  of  wider  laws  and  higher 
ends.  In  such  a  world  the  miracle  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  violated  no  law  but  fulfilled  a  high  spiritual  end 
and  was  a  supremely  rational  event.  As  all  physical  laws 
continue  in  their  operation  while  we  turn  them  to  our  use 
and  ends,  so  the  miracles  of  Christ  did  not  violate  or  arrest 
any  natural  laws  but  only  caused  them  to  move  in  the 
larger  orbit  of  his  plan  and  purpose  as  the  revelation  of 
God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

7.  The  Chronology  and  Outline  of  Events  of  the  Life 

of  Jesus 

Before  examining  the  Gospels  it  may  be  well  to  fix  their 
general  chronology  and  the  outline  of  events  in  the  life 
of  Jesus. 

(1)  Chronology.  It  was  not  until  the  sixth  century, 
A.  D.,  that  the  birth  of  Jesus  was  adopted  as  the  initial 
date  of  our  calendar,  and  therefore  it  is  not  surprising 
that  this  event  was  placed  four  years  too  late.  Jesus  was 
born  under  Herod  the  Great  and  he  died  in  4  B.  C.,  and 
therefore  Jesus  must  have  been  born  in  or  before  this 
year,  which  is  the  commonly  accepted  year  of  his  birth. 

As  Jesus  began  to  teach  at  the  age  of  thirty  (Luke 
3 :  23) ,  he  entered  upon  his  ministry  in  26  A.  D.  The  dura¬ 
tion  of  his  ministry  depends  on  how  many  Passover  feasts 
he  attended,  and  this  depends  on  whether  the  unnamed 
feast  of  John  5 : 1  was  a  Passover.  The  view  isi  generally 
accepted  that  it  was  a  Passover,  making  four  he  attended 
(John  2:13;  5:1;  6:4;  12:1),  and  this  would  make  his 
ministry  extend  to  three  years  and  the  ascension  would 
fall  in  the  spring  of  29  A.  D.  There  are  elements  of  un¬ 
certainty  in  these  dates,  but  they  are  approximately  cor¬ 
rect. 

(2)  Outline  of  Events  in  the  Life  of  Jesus.  The  life 
of  Jesus  falls  into  two  main  parts,  the  thirty  silent  years, 
and  the  three  years  of  the  public  ministry. 

Of  the  three  years  of  the  public  ministry,  the  first  was 


60 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


a 

spent  chiefly  in  Jndea  and  has  been  designated  D y  Dr. 
Janies  Stalker  the  year  of  obscurity;  the  second  was  spent 
in  Galilee  and  was  the  year  of  growing  popularity;  the 
third  was  spent  chiefly  in  Perea  and  Judea  and  was  the 
year  of  increasing  opposition.  These  years  are  not  to  be 
taken  strictly  as  one  year  each,  as  the  early  Judean  min¬ 
istry  was  probably  less  than  a  year,  and  the  Galilean 
ministry  extended  to  considerably  more  than  a  year,  but 
the  three  periods  into  which  the  public  ministry  falls  may 
be  approximately  designated  as  years. 

The  chief  events  of  the  life  of  Jesus  may  be  arranged 
in  the  following  outline,  which  is  the  framework  into  which 
we  shall  fit  the  contents  of  each  Gospel.  We  cannot  always 
be  sure  of  the  chronological  order,  but  this  general  arrange¬ 
ment  cannot  be  far  from  the  facts  and  will  serve  our  prac¬ 
tical  purpose. 


PART  I 

The  Thirty  Silent  Years 
B.  C.  4— A.  D.  26 

1.  The  genealogies. 

2.  The  annunciations  of  the  births  of  John  the  Baptist  and 

of  Jesus. 

3.  The  birth  at  Bethlehem. 

4.  Angels,  shepherds  and  Wise  Men. 

5.  The  quiet  years  at  Nazareth. 

PART  II 

The  Public  Ministry 
B.  G.  26— A.  D.  29 

FIRST  YEAR 

Early  Judean  Ministry:  Year  of  Obscurity 

1.  The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist. 

2.  The  baptism  of  Jesus. 

3.  The  temptation. 

4.  First  disciples  of  Jesus. 

5.  First  miracle. 

6.  First  cleansing  of  the  Temple. 

7.  Discourse  with  Nicodemus. 

8.  The  cooperation  of  Jesus  with  John. 

9.  Departure  from  Judea. 

10.  Discourse  with  the  Woman  of  Samaria. 

SECOND  YEAR 

Galilean  Ministry:  Year  of  Popularity 
1.  First  rejection  at  Nazareth  and  removal  to  Capernaum. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


61 


2.  Itinerant  preaching  in  Galilee. 

3.  Calling  the  Twelve  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

4.  Many  miracles. 

5.  John  the  Baptist’s  last  message. 

6.  Many  parables. 

7.  Second  rejection  at  Nazareth. 

8.  The  feeding  of  the  five  thousand. 

9.  Break  with  the  Pharisees  on  eating. 

10.  Renewed  controversy  with  the  Pharisees. 

11.  Retirement  to  the  north :  Peter’s  confession. 

12.  The  transfiguration. 

13.  Discourse  on  humility. 

THIRD  YEAR 

Later  Judean  Ministry:  Year  of  Opposition 

1.  Arrival  in  Judea. 

2.  The  mission  of  the  seventy. 

3.  Jesus  foretells  his  death. 

4.  Incidents  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem. 

5.  Anointing  of  Jesus  by  Mary  in  Bethany. 

6.  Triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem. 

7.  Second  cleansing  of  the  Temple. 

8.  Questions  and  controversies. 

9.  Discourse  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

10.  The  conspiracy  between  the  priests  and  Judas. 

11.  The  Last  Supper. 

12.  Christ’s  farewell  discourses. 

13.  Gethsemane. 

14.  Betrayal  and  arrest. 

15.  The  trial. 

16.  The  crucifixion. 

17.  The  burial. 

18.  The  resurrection. 

19.  The  appearances  and  ascension. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  FOUR  GOSPELS 

We  now  proceed  to  an  examination  of  each  of  the  Four 
Gospels. 

1.  The  Gospel  According  to  Matthew 

(1)  Authorship.  The  title,  “The  Gospel  According  to 
Matthew,’ ’  does  not  necessarily  mean  the  Gospel  by 
Matthew  or  written  by  him,  but  the  gospel  story  as  he 
reported  it.  There  is  evidence  that  Matthew’s  report  of 
the  gospel  was  an  earlier  writing  than  our  Matthew. 
Papias,  Bishop  of  Hierapolis  early  in  the  second  century, 
is  quoted  by  Eusebius,  a  church  historian  of  the  third  cen¬ 
tury,  as  follows:  “Matthew,  in  the  Hebrew  dialect,  com¬ 
piled  the  Logia,  and  each  one  interpreted  them  according 
to  his  ability.”  “Logia”  means  words  or  speeches,  and 
this  early  book  by  Matthew,  consisting  of  the  sayings  and 
sermons  of  Jesus,  was  written  in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic,  and 
was  then  translated  and  used  together  with  Mark’s  Gospel 
by  the  author  or  editor  of  our  Matthew. 

This  view  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  411  verses,  or 
two-fifths,  of  Matthew  consist  of  the  reported  words  of 
our  Lord.  There  is  then  back  of  our  Matthew  an  earlier 
Matthew,  but  the  name  of  the  apostle  rightly  stands  in 
connection  with  our  Gospel  as  being  “The  Gospel  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Matthew.” 

As  Matthew  was  a  tax  collector  (Matt.  9:9),  he  was 
used  to  gathering  facts  and  statistics  and  to  reducing  them 
to  tabular  form  and  writing,  and  this  was  literary  train¬ 
ing  that  fitted  him  for  collecting  materials  for  and  com¬ 
posing  his  Gospel.  It  is  thought  by  some  scholars  that  he 
shows  a  fondness  for  numerical  combinations,  such  as 

62 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


63 


groups  of  three,  five,  seven  or  ten  incidents  or  topics,  and 
this  may  have  grown  out  of  his  habit  of  tabulating  matters 
in  his  tax  reports.  His  business  methods  would  uncon¬ 
sciously  creep  into  his  writing. 

No  information  is  available  as  to  his  place  of  residence 
at  the  time  of  writing  the  Gospel,  or  of  his  career  and 
death  as  an  apostle.  Eusebius  says  of  him:  “For  Mat¬ 
thew,  after  preaching  to  Hebrews,  when  about  to  go 
also  to  others,  committed  to  writing  in  his  native 
tongue  the  Gospel  that  bears  his  name ;  and  so  by  his  writ¬ 
ing  supplied,  to  those  whom  he  was  leaving,  the  loss  of  his 
presence.  ” 

(2)  Characteristics.  Matthew’s  point  of  view  and  pur¬ 
pose  is  plain:  he  is  writing  to  the  Jews  to  show  that  Jesus 
is  the  Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  purpose  begins 
with  the  genealogy  and  continues  through  the  visit  of  the 
Magi  and  runs  through  the  whole  teaching  that  the  gospel 
fulfills  and  expands  the  law  of  Moses,  down  to  the  form 
of  the  inscription  on  the  cross  and  the  great  commission 
(Matt.  28 : 18-20)  as  carrying  out  the  Messianic  predictions 
of  the  prophets.  “Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy 
the  law,  or  the  prophets :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfill”  (5:17)  is  a  principle  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  that 
Matthew  never  lets  his  readers  forget. 

Matthew  quotes  the  Old  Testament  more  frequently  than 
any  other  evangelist,  giving  twenty-nine  such  quotations, 
of  which  ten  are  peculiar  to  himself.  When  we  compare 
Matthew  with  parallel  passages  in  Mark,  we  find  that 
often  when  Mark  makes  a  simple  statement  of  fact  Matthew 
confirms  and  enriches  it  with  a  quotation  from  the  Old 
Testament.  Thus,  when  Mark  states  that  Jesus  and  his 
disciples  “went  into  Capernaum”  (1:21),  Matthew  states 
that  this  was  done  “that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  by  Isaiah  the  prophet”  (4:14),  and  quotes  Isa. 
9 : 1-2.  “To  Mark’s  simple  statement  that  Jesus  withdrew 
himself  to  the  sea  after  the  collision  with  the  Pharisees, 
occasioned  by  the  healing  on  the  Sabbath  of  the  man  with 
the  withered  hand  (Mark  3:7),  the  first  evangelist  attaches 
a  fine  prophetic  picture,  as  if  to  show  readers  the  true 
Jesus  as  opposed  to  the  Jesus  of  the  Pharisaic  imagination 
(Matt.  12  .T5-21).  From  these  instances  we  see  his  method. 


64 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


He  is  not  inventing  history,  but  enriching  history  with 
prophetic  emblazonments  for  apologetic  purposes,  or  for 
increase  of  edification  ’  *  ( Expositor's  Greek  Testament, 

Yol.  I,  p.  41). 

Matthew  is  thus  on  every  page  connecting  the  gospel 
with  the  Old  Testament  and  showing  that  the  teaching  of 
the  Old  Testament  is  fulfilled  in  the  person  and  mission 
and  kingdom  of  Jesus  as  the  true  Messiah  and  is  thus  re¬ 
moving  doubts  and  misgivings  from  the  minds  of  Jewish 
converts  and  confirming  them  in  the  Christian  faith.  It  is 
difficult  for  us  to  realize  how  great  was  the  transition  from 
the  old  to  the  new,  what  a  wrench  and  shock  it  gave  to 
J ewish  loyalty  and  faith  to  seem  to  give  up  the  one  for  the 
other,  and  how  earnest  were  the  efforts  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  writers  to  show  the  Jewish  Christians  that  they  were 
not  sacrificing  their  old  faith,  but  were  only  fulfilling  and 
enriching  it  in  receiving  the  new  faith.  This  was  Mat¬ 
thew’s  special  purpose  and  it  is  deeply  stamped  upon  every 
page  of  his  Gospel. 

That  Matthew  is  the  Jewish  Gospel  is  also  seen  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  more  deeply  impregnated  and  richly  colored 
with  the  soil  of  Palestine  than  any  other  Gospel.  He  is 
minutely  acquainted  with  Jewish  history  and  custom  and 
assumes  that  his  readers  understand  these.  The  seven 
parables  in  chapter  13  show  acquaintance  with  Jewish 
farming  and  fishing,  housekeeping,  the  fondness  for  and 
traffic  in  jewels  and  other  matters,  and  while  Jesus  spoke 
these  parables  only  Matthew  records  them  all  and  thereby 
shows  his  keen  interest  in  them.  He  knew  his  own  coun¬ 
try  and  people  and  wrote  for  them  a  Gospel  that  must 
have  touched  more  native  chords  in  their  hearts  'and 
appealed  to  them  more  deeply  than  any  other  of  these 
narratives. 

(3)  Contents.  Matthew,  as  well  as  the  other  evangel¬ 
ists,  does  not  always  follow  a  chronological  order,  espe¬ 
cially  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  but  groups  together  de¬ 
tached  sayings  and  larger  portions  of  discourses  delivered 
at  different  times.  However  a  general  progressive  plan 
may  be  plainly  traced,  and  we  can  fit  the  chief  portions  of 
Matthew  into  our  Outline  of  Events  in  the  life  of  Jesus 
as  follows: 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


65 


PART  I :  The  Thikty  Silent  Years,  1-2. 

1.  The  genealogy,  1 : 1-17. 

2.  The  birth  at  Bethlehem,  1 : 18-2  :  23. 

3.  The  quiet  years  at  Nazareth,  2 : 23. 

PART  II :  The  Public  Ministry,  3-28. 

I.  First  Year  :  The  Early  Judean  Ministry,  3-4  : 11. 

1.  The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  3 : 1-13. 

2.  The  baptism  of  Jesus,  3 : 13-17. 

3.  The  temptation  of  Jesus,  4 : 1-11. 

II.  Second  Year  :  The  Galilean  Ministry. 

1.  Departure  from  Judea  and  settlement  at  Capernaum. 

4 : 12-17. 

2.  Call  of  the  Four  and  itinerant  preaching  in  Galilee, 

4 : 18-23. 

3.  Controversies  with  scribes  and  Pharisees,  9 : 1-17, 

12 :  9-14. 

4.  Calling  the  Twelve,  10 : 2-4,  and  the  Sermon  on  the 

Mount,  5-8. 

5.  John  the  Baptist’s  last  message,  12 : 2-19. 

G.  Warnings  to  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  12 :  22-45. 

7.  The  true  kindred  of  Christ,  12 :  46-50. 

8.  Many  parables,  13,  and  miracles,  8 :  23-34,  9 :  1S-34. 

9.  Second  .rejection  at  Nazareth,  13 :  54-58. 

10.  The  mission  of  the  Twelve,  9 :  36-11 : 1. 

11.  Death  of  John  the  Baptist,  14 : 1-12. 

12.  The  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  14 : 13-23. 

13.  Break  with  the  Pharisees  on  eating,  15 :  1-20. 

14.  Journey  to  the  region  of  Tyre  and  return,  15 :  21-31. 

15.  Feeding  of  the  four  thousand,  15 :  32-38. 

16.  Renewed  controversy  with  the  Pharisees,  15 :  39-16 : 12. 

17.  Retirement  to  the  north :  Peter’s  confession,  16 : 13-20. 

18.  The  transfiguration.  17 :  1-20. 

19.  Discourse  on  humility,  18. 

III.  Third  Year:  The  Later  Judean  Ministry,  19-28. 

1.  Arrival  in  Judea,  19 : 1-2. 

2.  The  mission  of  the  seventy,  11 : 20-30. 

3.  Jesus  foretells  his  death,  20 : 17-19. 

4.  Incidents  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem,  20 :  20-34. 

5.  Anointing  of  Jesus  by  Mary  in  Bethany,  26 :  6-18. 

6.  The  triumphal  entry  to  Jerusalem,  21 : 1-11. 

7.  Second  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  21 : 12-17. 

8.  Questions  and  controversies,  21 :  23-23. 

9.  Discourse  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  24-25. 

10.  The  conspiracy  between  the  chief  priests  and  Judas, 

26:1-5,  14-15. 

11.  The  Last  Supper,  26 : 17-30. 

12.  Christ’s  farewell  discourses,  26 : 31-85. 

13.  Gethsemane,  26 :  36-46. 


66 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


14.  Betrayal  and  arrest,  26:47-56. 

15.  The  trial,  26:57-27:31. 

16.  The  crucifixion,  27  :  32-56. 

17.  The  burial,  37 :  57-66. 

15.  The  resurrection,  28  : 1-10. 

16.  The  appearances,  28 : 16-20. 

Matthew  omits  the  events  in  the  first  year  of  the  min¬ 
istry  of  Jesus  after  his  temptation,  recorded  only  in  John, 
gives  in  fuller  detail  than  any  other  evangelist  the  Gali¬ 
lean  ministry,  and  concludes  the  final  scenes  with  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  risen  Christ  in  Galilee  and  omits  the 
ascension. 


2.  The  Gospel  According  to  Mark 

(1)  Authorship.  Mark  first  appears  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  in  connection  with  the  release  by  an  angel  of  Peter 
from  prison  in  Jerusalem,  when  Peter  went  to  “the  house 
of  Mary  the  mother  of  John,  whose  surname  was  Mark” 
(Acts  12:12).  It  would  appear  that  his  mother  owned 
the  house  and  was  a  woman  of  some  means.  Mark  then 
became  associated  with  Paul  who  took  him  with  him  as  a 
helper  on  his  first  missionary  journey. 

The  earliest  testimony  to  his  authorship  of  the  Second 
Gospel  is  again  that  of  Papias  writing  about  125  A.  D. 
“M&rk,”  he  says,  “having  become  the  interpreter  of 
Peter,  wrote  down  accurately  everything  that  he  remem¬ 
bered,  without,  however,  recording  in  order  what  was 
either  said  or  done  by  Christ.  For  neither  did  he  hear 
the  Lord,  nor  did  he  follow  him;  but  afterwards,  as  I 
said  (attended)  Peter,  who  adapted  his  instructions  to 
the  needs  (of  his  hearers)  but  had  no  design  of  giving  a 
connected  account  of  the  Lord’s  oracles.  So  then  Mark 
made  no  mistake,  while  he  thus  wrote  down  some  things 
as  he  remembered  them;  for  he  made  it  his  one  care  not 
to  omit  anything  that  he  heard,  or  to  set  down  any  false 
statement  therein.” 

This  statement  that  Mark  wrote  as  the  disciple  of  Peter 
is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  Peter  is  prominent  in  this 
Gospel,  often  in  unimportant  matters,  especially  as  it 
becomes  more  specific  in  details  when  Peter  appears  upon 
the  scene  in  the  first  chapter;  and  it  bears  the  impress  of 
Peter’s  urgent  spirit  and  direct  rough  speech. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


67 


Mark  was  also  a  traveling  companion  of  Paul  in  his 
first  missionary  journey,  and  some  critical  readers  think 
they  discern  something  of  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  Paul 
in  the  Second  Gospel. 

We  have  already  seen  reasons  for  dating  this  Gospel  be¬ 
tween  55  and  60  A.  D.,  and  this  date  is  borne  out  by  ita 
contents,  especially  by  the  fact  that  it  was  evidently  writ¬ 
ten  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  70  A.  D. 

(2)  Characteristics.  Mark’s  immediate  purpose  is  to 
set  forth  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  note  he  strikes  in 
the  very  first  verse:  4 ‘The  beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God.”  In  Matthew  Jesus  is  the  mighty 
Speaker,  but  in  Mark  he  is  the  mighty  Doer.  On  every 
page  he  is  doing  great  deeds  that  show  forth  his  divine 
power  and  Saviourhood.  It  does  not  appear  that  Mark 
is  writing  specially  for  either  Jews  or  Gentiles,  but  is 
proclaiming  to  all  believers  that  Jesus  is  mighty  to  save. 
He  appeals  especially  to  men  of  action. 

Mark’s  Gospel  is  marked  by  characteristics  that  sharply 
distinguish  it  from  the  others.  It  is  realistic  in  the  direct 
vision  and  apprehension  of  the  facts  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
and  graphic  in  its  style.  Mark  sees  and  says  things  just 
as  they  are  without  any  effort  or  thought  of  smoothing 
them  off  or  toning  them  down.  A  rapid  reading  of  the 
book  gives  one  a  vivid  impression  of  this  feature.  He 
calls  Jesus  a  “carpenter,”  has  the  people  on  first  hear¬ 
ing  him  at  Capernaum  exclaim,  “A  new  teaching!”  and 
tells  how  his  family  declare  of  him,  “He  is  beside  him¬ 
self,”  or  is  crazy.  These  realistic  touches  appear  on 
every  page. 

There  is  also  an  urgency  in  the  book  that  is  character¬ 
istic.  The  words  “straightway”  and  “immediately” 
occur  more  than  forty  times  and  indicate  the  rapidity 
and  eagerness  with  which  Jesus  passes  and  almost  rushes 
from  one  point  or  work  to  another.  Once  while  hasten¬ 
ing  to  one  work  of  mercy  he  dropped  another  by  the  way 
(chapter  5).  This  urgency  is  characteristic  of  the  im¬ 
pulsive  nature  of  Peter  and  reflects  his  spirit  in  the  nar¬ 
rative. 

The  frequent  use  of  the  present  tense  in  the  narrative  is 
another  mark  of  its  realistic  style,  the  author  telling 


68  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

events  as  though  they  were  present  before  him  as  he 
writes. 

These  characteristics  are  indications  of  the  historicity  of 
the  book  as  being  inimitable,  and  also  accord  with  its  being 
the  earliest  Gospel  written  under  fresh  knowledge  and 
vision  of  the  facts  before  reflection  and  tradition  had  be¬ 
gun  to  pale  their  colors  and  dim  their  sharp  outlines. 
They  are  indications  that  Mark  saw  through  the  eyes  and 
wrote  with  the  hand  of  Peter. 

(3)  Contents: 

PART  I :  The  Thirty  Silent  Years,  omitted. 

PART  II :  The  Public  Ministry,  1-16. 

I.  First  Year:  The  Early  Judean  Ministry,  1:1-13. 

1.  The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  1 : 1-8. 

2.  The  baptism  of  Jesus,  1 :  9-11. 

3.  The  temptation  of  Jesus,  1 : 12-13. 

II.  Second  Year  :  The  Galilean  Ministry,  1 : 14-9. 

1.  Call  of  the  Four  and  itinerant  preachiipg  in  Galilee, 

1 : 16-45 

2.  Miracles  and  controversies,  2  : 1-3  : 12. 

3.  Calling  the  Twelve,  3 : 13-19. 

4.  Warnings  to  scribes  and  Pharisees,  3:19-30. 

5.  The  true  kindred  of  Jesus,  3 :  31-35. 

6.  Many  parables  and  miracles.  4-5 : 43. 

7.  Second  rejection  at  Nazareth,  6 : 1-6. 

8.  The  mission  of  the  Twelve,  6 : 7-13. 

9.  Death  of  John  the  Baptist,  6 : 14-29. 

10.  The  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  6 :  30-46. 

11.  Break  with  the  Pharisees  on  eating,  7 : 1-23. 

12.  Journey  to  the  region  of  Tyre  and  return,  7 :  24-30. 

13.  Feeding  the  four  thousand,  8 : 1-9. 

14.  Renewed  controversy  with  the  Pharisees,  8 : 10-21. 

15.  Retirement  to  the  north :  Peter’s  confession,  8 : 27-30. 

16.  The  transfiguration,  9 :  2-29. 

17.  Discourse  on  humility,  9 :  33-50. 

III.  Third  Year:  The  Later  Judean  Ministry,  10-16. 

1.  Arrival  in  Judea,  10 : 1. 

2.  Various  teachings,  10:2-31. 

3.  Jesus  foretells  his  death,  10:32-34. 

4.  Incidents  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem,  30:35-52. 

5.  Anointing  of  Jesus  by  Mary  in  Bethany,  14 : 3-9. 

6.  The  triumphal  entry  to  Jerusalem,  11 : 1-11. 

7.  Second  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  11 : 15-19. 

8.  Questions  and  controversies,  11 :  27-12  :  40. 

9.  Discourse  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  13. 

10.  The  conspiracy  between  the  chief  priests  and  Judas, 

14 : 3-11. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


69 


11.  The  Last  Slipper,  14 : 12-26. 

12.  Christ’s  farewell  discourses,  14 :  27-31. 

13.  Gethsemane,  14  :  32^2. 

14.  Betrayal  and  arrest,  14 : 43-52. 

15.  The  trial,  14  :  53-15  :  20. 

16.  The  crucifixion,  15  :  21-41. 

17.  The  burial,  15  :  42-47. 

18.  The  resurrection,  16  : 1-11. 

19.  The  appearances,  16 :  9-20. 

Mark  in  the  oldest  existing  manuscript  breaks  off 
abruptly  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence  in  verse  8  of  the  last 
chapter:  “for  they  were  afraid  of, ”  leaving  the  meaning 
incomplete.  The  ending  to  the  chapter  found  in  our  ver¬ 
sions  was  supplied  by  a  later  hand  and  is  no  part  of  the 
genuine  Gospel.  Probably  the  end  of  the  roll  of  the  manu¬ 
script  was  worn  or  broken  off ;  and  as  the  Gospel  also  be¬ 
gins  abruptly  without  any  account  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  it 
has  been  suggested  that  the  first  end  of  the  manuscript  roll 
may  also  have  been  worn  or  torn  off  and  thus  the  original 
Mark  may  have  been  mutilated  at  both  ends. 

3.  The  Gospel  According  to  Luke 

(1)  Authorship.  Luke  is  directly  mentioned  only  twice 
in  the  New  Testament,  both  times  as  the  companion  of 
Paul:  “Luke,  the  beloved  physician,  and  Demas,  greet 
you”  (Col.  4:14).  “Only  Luke  is  with  me”  (II  Tim. 
4:11).  But  he  appears  in  Acts  16:10  as  one  of  Paul’s 
companions  in  his  second  missionary  journey:  “And  after 
that  he  had  seen  the  vision,  immediately  we  endeavored 
to  go  into  Macedonia.”  There  are  four  of  these  “we 
passages”  (16:10-18,  20:5-16,  21 :1-18,  27:1 — 28:16)  that 
indicate  the  presence  of  Luke  with  Paul,  so  that  he  is 
writing  Paul’s  biography  from  personal  knowledge. 

Uniform  ancient  tradition  ascribes  the  Third  Gospel  to 
Luke.  Irenaeus,  writing  about  180  A.  D.,  says,  “Luke,  the 
companion  of  Paul,  recorded  in  a  book  the  gospel  preached 
by  him,”  and  Justin  Martyr,  writing  thirty  years  earlier, 
quotes  from  the  book.  We  have  already  fixed  its  date  at 
near  60  A.  D. 

(2)  Purpose  and  Characteristics.  Luke  addressed  his 
Gospel  to  a  single  individual,  the  “most  excellent  Theo- 
philus,”  a  Roman  knight  or  man  of  rank,  to  whom  he 


70 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


subsequently  addressed  the  Acts  (1:1).  It  was  therefore 
written  for  a  Gentile  and  no  doubt  was  intended  through 
him  to  reach  a  wide  circle  of  Gentile  readers.  Yet  this 
Gospel  is  not  adapted  specially  to  any  particular  class, 
but  is  suited  to  all  readers  and  has  in  view  its  declared 
purpose  that  Theophilus  “  might  know  the  certainty  of 
those  things’  *  that  are  set  forth  in  it. 

The  Gospel  of  Luke,  pronounced  by  Renan  “the  most 
beautiful  book  ever  written,”  having  for  its  author  a 
physician  was  composed  by  a  professional  scholar  and  is 
the  most  literary  of  the  Gospels  in  style  and  finish  and,  in 
fact,  is  the  most  literary  book  in  the  New  Testament  with 
the  possible  exception  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The 
Greek  is  smooth  and  the  construction  is  that  of  an  artistic 
biography. 

The  Gospel  is  characterized  by  the  spirit  of  humane¬ 
ness,  as  befits  the  nature  and  work  of  a  physician.  The 
author  notes  that  they  were  “gracious  words”  that  pro¬ 
ceeded  from  the  mouth  of  Jesus  at  Nazareth  (4:22),  and 
graciousness  marks  his  narrative  all  the  way  through.  He 
alone  gives  us  such  beautiful  humanitarian  parables  as 
the  Good  Samaritan  and  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  he  very 
noticeably  smooths  down  the  faults  of  the  disciples,  as  is 
seen  in  his  omitting  the  rebuke  to  Peter,  “Get  thee  be¬ 
hind  me.”  He  notes  the  specific  features  of  disease,  such 
as  “a  great  fever”  (4 :  38) ,  and  “full  of  leprosy”  (5:12), 
and  he  notes  “the  only  son”  (7:12),  and  an  “only  child” 
(9:38).  Many  are  the  little  touches  that  show  the  quick 
eye  and  tender  hand  and  sympathetic  heart  of  “the  be¬ 
loved  physician.”  Thus  the  human  charm  and  healing 
ministry  of  Jesus  shine  out  in  special  splendor  upon  his 
pages. 

(3)  The  Preface.  A  specially  important  part  of  Luke’s 
Gospel  is  his  preface.  The  author  of  a  book  in  his  pref¬ 
ace  usually  gives  us  information  about  it  that  is  inter¬ 
esting  and  helps  us  to  understand  it  and  yet  does  not  fall 
within  the  book  itself,  such  as  telling  us  his  purpose  in 
writing  it  and  indicating  his  sources  and  his  competence 
for  his  task.  This  is  just  what  Luke  does;  and  his  pre¬ 
face  is  so  valuable  that  we  here  reproduce  it  from  Mof- 
fatt’s  New  Translation  that  will  give  us  a  more  literal  and 
a  fresher  view  of  it: 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


71 


Inasmuch  as  a  number  of  writers  have  essayed  to  draw  up  a 
narrative  of  the  established  facts  in  our  religion  exactly  as  these 
have  been  handed  down  to  us  by  the  original  eyewitnesses  who 
were  in  the  service  of  the  Gospel  Message,  and  inasmuch  as  I 
have  gone  carefully  over  them  all  myself  from  the  very  beginning, 
I  have  decided,  O  Theophilus,  to  write  them  out  in  order  for  your 
excellency,  to  let  you  know  the  solid  truth  of  what  you  have  been 
taught. 

This  brief  preface,  worth  many  times  its  weight  in  gold, 
is  one  of  the  most  important  historical  documents  in  the 
Bible  and  in  all  the  literature  of  the  world.  It  lets  us 
see  right  into  the  heart  of  the  process  by  which  Luke  pre¬ 
pared  the  materials  for  and  wrote  his  Gospel.  It  takes 
us  into  his  literary  workshop  and  shows  us  the  author  at 
work.  And  we  find  there,  no  romancer  or  mere  repeater 
of  rumors  and  traditions  and  legends  coming  down  from  a 
distant  day,  but  a  careful  and  conscientious  historian  pro¬ 
ceeding  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  trustworthy  histori¬ 
cal  investigation  and  composition. 

Luke  first  collected  his  data  and  documents  that  were 
close  to  the  facts,  having  been  written  by  those  who  had 
received  them  from  eyewitnesses,  and  there  were  many 
such  sketches  which  he  had  in  hand.  This  gives  us  a 
glimpse  of  the  Gospels  before  our  Gospels,  many  of  which 
have  long  since  perished.  However,  we  know  of  one  of 
them,  for  we  have  seen  that  Luke  and  Matthew  used  not 
only  Mark  but  also  another  document  now  known  as  Q. 

Having  collected  his  data  Luke  says,  “I  have  gone  care¬ 
fully  over  them  all  myself  from  the  beginning”:  that  is, 
he  sifted  and  digested  his  data  and  put  them  through  the 
whole  process  of  systematic  examination.  He  did  not  sim¬ 
ply  copy  them,  but  he  tested  them  and  reduced  them  to 
the  consistency  of  truth. 

He  then  set  about  writing  his  narrative  in  a  methodical 
form,  producing  an  orderly  and  logical  history  or  biog¬ 
raphy.  And  all  this  was  done  that  his  noble  friend  might 
“know  the  solid  truth  of  what  you  have  been  taught.” 
He  had  a  practical  purpose  in  view  and  with  him  truth 
was  in  order  to  goodness. 

Luke  thus  based  his  Gospel  on  contemporary  witnesses 
and  documents  after  the  manner  of  the  most  approved 
methods  of  the  modern  scientific  historian.  This  is  the 
immense  value  of  this  preface,  and  though  all  the  Gos- 


72 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


pels  were  dated  very  much  later  yet  would  these  four  in¬ 
troductory  verses  assure  us  that  the  author  of  the  Third 
Gospel  had  first-hand  documents  and  take  us  back  to 
eyewitnesses  of  these  tremendous  events. 

(4)  Contents.  Luke  has  considerable  material  peculiar 
to  himself,  including  such  parables  as  the  Good  Samari¬ 
tan,  Selfish  Neighbor,  Unjust  Judge,  Prodigal  Son,  Unjust 
Steward,  Lazarus  and  Dives,  and  the  Pharisee  and  Pub¬ 
lican.  These  parables  and  much  other  material  peculiar 
to  Luke  are  found  in  a  long  passage  extending  from  9 :  51 
to  18 : 14.  The  main  portions  of  this  Gospel  can  be  fitted 
into  our  Outline  as  follows: 

THE  PREFACE,  1:1-4. 

PART  I :  The  Thirty  Silent  Years,  1-2  :  52. 

1.  The  genealogy,  3 : 23-38. 

2.  The  annunciations:  of  the  births  of  John  the  Baptist  and 

of  Jesus,  1 :  5-38. 

3.  The  birth  at  Bethlehem,  2 : 1-2 :  39. 

4.  The  quiet  years  at  Nazareth,  2 : 39-52. 

PART  II :  The  Public  Ministry,  3-2S. 

I.  First  Year  :  The  Early  Judean  Ministry,  3-4  : 13. 

1.  The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  3 : 1-20. 

2.  The  baptism  of  Jesus,  3 : 21-23. 

3.  The  temptation  of  Jesus,  4 : 1-13. 

II.  Second  Year  :  The  Galilean  Ministry,  4  : 14-9  :  50. 

1.  Departure  from  Judea  and  settlement  at  Capernaum, 

4:1-3,  31-41. 

2.  Itinerant  preaching  in  Galilee,  4 : 42-44,  5 : 12-16. 

3.  Controversies  with  scribes  and  Pharisees,  5  : 17-6 : 11. 

4.  Calling  the  Twelve,  6 : 12-19,  and  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 

6 : 20-49. 

5.  John  the  Baptist’s  last  message,  7  : 18-35. 

6.  Warnings  to  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  11:14-36. 

7.  The  true  kindred  of  Christ,  8 : 19-21. 

8.  Many  parables,  S  :  4-18. 

9.  Many  miracles,  8 :  22-56. 

10.  The  mission  of  the  Twelve,  9 : 1-6. 

11.  Death  of  John  the  Baptist,  9 :  7-9. 

12.  The  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  9 : 10-17. 

13.  Peter’s  confession,  9 : 18-21. 

14.  The  transfiguration,  9  :  28-43. 

15.  Discourse  on  humility,  9 :  46-50. 

III.  Third  Year  :  The  Later  Judean  Ministry,  9 :  51-24, 

1.  Arrival  in  Judea,  9 : 51. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


73 


2.  The  mission  of  the  seventy,  10 : 1-24. 

3.  The  Good  Samaritan,  10 :  25-37. 

4.  Various  discourses,  11:1-13,  37-13:9. 

5.  A  woman  healed  on  the  Sabbath,  13 : 10-21. 

6.  Further  discourses,  13  :  22-14  :  35. 

7.  A  series  of  parables,  15-17 : 10. 

8.  The  coming  of  the  kingdom,  17 :  20-18 : 8. 

9.  The  Pharisee  and  the  Publican,  18 :  9-14. 

10.  Jesus  and  children,  18 : 15-17. 

11.  The  rich  young  ruler,  18 : 18-30. 

12.  Jesus  foretells  his  death,  18 : 18-30. 

13.  Incidents  at  Jericho,  18  :  35-19  :  28. 

14.  The  triumphal  entry,  19 :  29-44. 

15.  Second  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  19 : 45-48. 

16.  Questions  and  controversies,  20 : 1-47. 

17.  Discourse  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 

21 :  5-38. 

18.  Conspiracy  between  the  priests  and  Judas,  22 : 1-6. 

19.  The  last  supper,  22 : 7-30. 

20.  Christ’s  farewell  discourses,  22 : 31-38. 

21.  Gethsemane,  22  :  39-46. 

22.  Betrayal  and  arrest,  22 :  47-53. 

23.  The  trial,  22:54-23:25. 

24.  The  crucifixion,  23  :  26-49. 

25.  The  burial,  23 :  50-56. 

26.  The  resurrection,  23  :  56-24  : 12. 

27.  The  appearances,  24  : 13-53. 

4.  The  Gospel  According  to  John 

(1)  Authorship  and  Date.  The  book  itself  declares,  of 
John,  “the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved’7  (21:20),  that 
“This  is  the  disciple  who  testifieth  of  these  things,  and 
wrote  these  things:  and  we  know  that  his  testimony  is 
true”  (21:24).  The  external  evidence  in  favor  of  this 
authorship  is  good.  Irenasus,  writing  about  180  A.  D., 
bears  witness  to  the  fact  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  was  uni¬ 
versally  received  in  the  churches  as  the  work  of  John ;  and 
he  also  tells  us  of  hearing  Poly  carp,  who  was  born  in  70 
A.  D.  and  was  contemporary  with  John,  when  “he  would 
describe  his  intercourse  with  John  and  the  rest  who  had 
seen  the  Lord,  and  how  he  would  relate  his  words,”  and 
how  Polycarp  had  “received  them  from  eyewitnesses  of 
the  life  of  the  Word”  (Logos).  The  internal  evidence  is 
also  good  as  it  shows  that  the  author  was  a  Palestinian 
Jew,  intimate  with  Judea  and  Jerusalem  and  an  eyewit¬ 
ness  of  events  he  is  recording.  Yet  some  scholars  hold,  on 
the  ground  of  internal  evidence,  that  the  substance  of  the 


74 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Gospel  is  from  John  but  that  the  actual  writing  was  done 
by  one  of  his  disciples,  perhaps  John  the  Presbyter,  an 
associate  of  John  the  Apostle  in  Ephesus.  The  trend  of 
recent  scholarship,  however,  is  back  to  the  Johannine  au¬ 
thorship,  and  so  competent  a  scholar  as  Dr.  A.  T.  Robert¬ 
son  declares,  “I  pin  my  faith  to  the  conviction  that  the 
Apostle  John  is  identical  with  the  Beloved  Disciple  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  Fourth  Gospel  as  the  author  of  the  book. ’  * 

The  date  of  the  Gospel,  according  to  general  agreement 
of  scholars,  falls  near  the  end  of  the  first  century  and  may 
be  about  100  A.  D.  Nearly  all  ancient  tradition  makes 
the  death  of  John  to  have  occurred  at  an  advanced  age 
in  or  near  Ephesus  at  about  this  date. 

(2)  Purpose  and  Character.  The  purpose  of  this  Gos¬ 
pel  is  clearly  stated  in  20:31:  “But  these  are  written,  that 
ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God; 
and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life  through  his  name.” 
The  whole  Gospel  from  the  Prologue  setting  forth  the 
eternal  Sonship  of  Christ  (1:1-18)  to  its  closing  verse  is 
concentrated  on  this  point  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God 
through  whose  name  we  are  saved  by  faith. 

The  outstanding  characteristic  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  is 
that  it  stands  apart  from  the  synoptics  in  contents  and 
teaching  and  spirit.  In  general  it  describes  the  Judean 
ministry  of  Jesus  in  contrast  with  the  synoptics,  which 
are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  Galilean  ministry,  and  it  is 
also  contrasted  with  them  in  that  it  is  the  subjective  while 
they  are  the  objective  gospel.  Any  Harmony  of  the  Gospels 
will  show  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  coincides  with  the  synop¬ 
tics  at  comparatively  few  points,  these  with  a  single  excep¬ 
tion  (feeding  the  five  thousand)  being  events  in  the  closing 
weeks  of  the  life  of  Christ.  On  the  other  hand  there  are 
large  portions  of  material,  such  as  the  discourses  with 
Nicodemus  and  the  Samaritan  woman,  that  are  found 
only  in  this  Gospel. 

John  stands  in  a  very  different  relation  to  Jesus,  as 
compared  with  the  other  evangelists,  in  that  he  was  the 
most  intimate  disciple  and  personal  friend  of  the  Master 
and  was  able  to  report  and  interpret  his  most  spiritual 
and  vital  teaching  and  reflect  his  spirit  most  fully.  The 
characteristic  words  of  his  Gospel  are  light,  life,  truth, 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


75 


and  Spirit.  The  Logos  or  Word  is  the  light  that  becomes 
the  life  of  men,  and  eternal  life  in  the  Fourth  Gospel  very 
largely  takes  the  place  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
synoptics.  “God  is  spirit ”  (4:24),  together  with  “God 
is  light’ ’  and  “God  is  love”  of  his  First  Epistle  (1:5  and 
4:24),  is  the  sunlit  summit  of  John’s  teaching. 

A  peculiarity  of  John’s  Gospel  is  that  he  stands  so 
close  to  and  is  so  intimate  with  Jesus  as  his  interpreter 
that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  between  what 
is  the  teaching  of  the  Master  and  what  is  the  comment 
and  interpretation  of  the  disciple.  John  is  a  philosopher 
and  mystic  and  poet  more  than  the  practical  Matthew  and 
the  objective  Mark  and  the  systematic  Luke,  so  that  his 
Gospel  is  in  some  degree  tinctured  and  colored  with  his 
own  subjective  thought  and  spirit.  The  historical  element 
is  subordinated  to  the  spiritual  and  the  spiritual  is  deeply 
dyed  with  the  mystical.  For  example,  in  the  great  dis¬ 
course  with  Nicodemus  it  is  not  clear  where  Jesus  leaves 
off  and  John  begins.  Was  it  Jesus  that  uttered  the  won¬ 
derful  saying,  “God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life”  (3 : 16),  or  was  John 
so  caught  up  into  the  report  and  spirit  of  the  Master’s 
sublime  eloquence  that  at  this  point  his  own  soul  took 
wings  and  was  borne  aloft  to  the  height  of  this  great 
utterance?  At  any  rate,  John  takes  us  further  into  the 
heart  of  the  mystic  teaching  of  Jesus  and  immerses  us 
more  deeply  in  his  spirit  than  do  the  synoptics. 

The  Fourth  Gospel,  being  so  much  later  than  the  synop¬ 
tics,  is  largely  supplementary  to  them  and  supplies  the 
theological  and  philosophical  and  spiritual  interpretation 
of  Jesus  that  in  some  degree  may  be  due  to  long-con¬ 
tinued  reflection  and  loving  remembrance  and  deep  medi¬ 
tation.  It  is  therefore  the  most  vital  and  precious  of  the 
Gospels  and  will  ever  nourish  believers  on  the  very  Bread 
of  life  and  reflect  that  Light  that  is  the  Life  of  the  world. 

(3)  Contents.  As  already  explained  the  contents  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel  come  into  contact  with  the  synoptics  at 
only  a  few  points  so  that  the  list  of  its  topics  varies  widely 
from  that  of  the  others;  but  we  may  fit  them  into  our 
General  Outline  as  follows: 


76 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

THE  PROLOGUE,  1 : 1-18 

PART  I :  The  Thirty  Silent  Years,  omitted. 

PART  II :  The  Public  Ministry. 

I.  First  Year  :  The  Early  Judean  Ministry,  1 : 19-4 :  42. 

1.  The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  1 : 19-34. 

2.  The  first  disciples  of  Jesus,  1 : 35-51. 

3.  First  miracle,  2 : 1-11. 

4.  First  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  2 : 13-22. 

5.  Discourse  with  Nicodemus,  2  :  23-3  :  21. 

6.  The  cooperation  of  Jesus  with  John,  3 : 23-3 :  21. 

7.  Discourse  with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  4 :  26-42. 

II.  Second  Year  :  The  Galilean  Ministry,  4  :  43-8  :  59. 

1.  Departure  from  Judea  and  settlement  in  Galilee,  4 : 43-45. 

2.  Healing  of  the  Nobleman’s  son,  4 : 46-54. 

3.  Visit  to  Jerusalem  to  the  feast,  5. 

4.  Feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  6 : 1-15. 

5.  Jesus  walking  on  the  water,  6:16-21. 

6.  Discourse  on  the  bread  of  life,  6 : 22-71. 

III.  Third  Year  :  The  Later  Judean  Ministry,  7  : 1-21 :  25 

1.  Jesus  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  and  his  discourses, 

7:1-8:  59. 

2.  Healing  of  the  man  born  blind,  9. 

3.  The  Good  Shepherd,  10 : 1-21. 

4.  Jesus  at  the  Feast  of  Dedication,  10:2-42. 

5.  The  raising  of  Lazarus,  11 : 1-46. 

6.  Withdrawal  to  Ephraim,  11 :  47-14. 

7.  Anointing  of  Jesus  by  Mary  in  Bethany,  11 :  55-12 : 11. 

8.  The  triumphal  entry,  12 : 12-19. 

9.  Incidents  in  Jerusalem,  12 : 20-50. 

10.  The  last  supper,  13  :  7-30. 

11.  Christ’s  farewell  discourses,  13  :  31-17. 

12.  Gethsemane,  IS  :  1. 

13.  Betrayal  and  arrest,  18 : 2-11. 

14.  The  trial,  18  :12-19  :  16. 

15.  The  crucifixion,  19 :  17-37. 

16.  The  burial,  19 :  3S-42. 

17.  The  resurrection,  20 : 1-18. 

18.  The  appearances,  20 : 19-21 : 25. 


CHAPTER  IY 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  AND  THE 
EPISTLES  OF  PAUL 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul  belong 
together  and  might  be  designated  as  The  Life  and  Letters 
of  Paul. 

I.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles 

(1)  Authorship  and  Date.  The  opening  sentence  of 
the  Acts,  beginning,  “The  former  treatise  have  I  made, 
O  Theophilus,  of  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and 
teach,”  is  plain  evidence  that  Luke  is  the  author  of  the 
Acts  as  of  the  Third  Gospel,  and  this  conclusion  is  con¬ 
firmed  by  all  the  other  evidence  in  the  matter.  The  lit¬ 
erary  style  of  the  two  books  in  the  construction  of  sen¬ 
tences  and  the  use  of  peculiar  words  and  phrases  indi¬ 
cates  identical  authorship,  and  from  the  earliest  times  the 
two  books  have  been  accepted  as  the  work  of  Luke. 

We  have  already  considered  the  question  of  its  date 
and  seen  that  in  all  probability  Luke  concluded  the  Acts 
before  the  death  of  Paul  and  that  this  places  its  date  near 
62  A.  D. 

(2)  Purpose  and  Characteristics:  As  in  his  Gospel  so 
in  the  Acts  Luke  indicates  his  purpose  m  his  preface.  He 
proposes  to  continue  the  narrative  of  ‘  ‘  the  former  treatise,  ’  ’ 
which  contained  “all  that  Jesus  began  both  tu  do  and  to 
teach  until  the  day  in  which  he  was  taken  up”  (1  :l-2)  and 
to  follow  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  Jesus  to  his  dis¬ 
ciples,  “Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem, 
and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth”  (1:8). 

The  Acts  is  thus  the  continuation  of  Luke’s  Gospel,  the 
second  volume  of  a  work  of  which  the  Gospel  is  the  first. 

77 


78 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


It  is  to  take  up  the  story  of  the  mission  of  Christ  in  the 
world  at  the  point  of  his  departure  from  it  and  carry  it 
on  in  widening  circles  from  Jerusalem  through  Judea  and 
Samaria  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  It  is  thus  the  Acts 
of  the  ascended  and  glorified  Christ  continuing  his  work 
from  heaven,  as  the  Gospels  are  the  Acts  of  Jesus  fulfilling 
his  mission  on  earth;  or  it  is  the  Acts  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
“whom/’  Jesus  promised,  “the  Father  will  send  in  my 
name”  (John  14:26)  to  carry  forward  his  work  in  the 
world;  or  it  is  the  first  history  of  the  missionary  church 
as  it  burst  the  narrow  bounds  of  Judea  and  launched  out 
upon  the  deep  and  set  its  sails  for  all  continents  and 
islands  of  the  sea. 

As  it  comes  from  the  hand  of  Luke  it  is  characterized 
by  the  same  scholarly  features  that  are  found  in  his  Gos¬ 
pel.  It  is  systematic  in  its  arrangement  and  evinces  the 
same  care  in  the  selection  of  the  materials  and  in  the  com¬ 
position  of  the  narrative.  At  points,  even  in  minute  mat¬ 
ters,  where  it  alludes  to  dates  and  names  and  facts  in  the 
Roman  Empire,  it  is  found  to  be  correct.  This  has  been 
proved  to  be  the  case  in  some  matters  in  which  it  was  long 
supposed  to  be  in  error. 

Beginning  at  the  point  where  Paul  appears  in  the  story 
as  the  chief  character  (chapter  9),  the  narrative  drops  out 
of  view  the  work  of  the  other  Apostles  and  practically 
becomes  the  biography  of  Paul,  with  whom  Luke  traveled 
as  a  companion  in  some  of  his  missionary  journeys  and 
work. 

Viewed  as  a  work  of  history  the  Acts  has  high  merit 
and  stands  the  test  of  our  modern  historians.  Says  Philip 
Schaff,  one  of  our  most  eminent  church  historians:  “Ex¬ 
amine  and  compare  the  secular  historians  from  Herodotus 
to  Macaulay,  and  the  church  historians  from  Eusebius  to 
Neander,  and  Luke  need  not  fear  a  comparison.  No  his¬ 
tory  of  thirty  years  has  ever  been  written  so  truthful  and 
impartial,  so  important  and  interesting,  so  healthy  in 
spirit,  so  aggressive  and  yet  so  genial,  so  cheering  and  so 
inspiring,  so  replete  with  lessons  of  wisdom  and  encour¬ 
agement  for  work  in  spreading  the  gospel  of  truth  and 
peace,  and  yet  withal  so  simple  and  modest,  as  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.  It  is  the  best  as  well  as  the  first  manual 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  79 

of  church  history”  ( History  of  the  Christian  Church,  Vol. 
1,  p.739). 

“On  the  whole,”  says  Professor  Kirsopp  Lake,  an  ex¬ 
tremely  radical  critic,  “and  considering  the  character  of 
of  the  book,  Acts  is  a  first-rate  historical  document,  and 
singularly  easy  to  understand,  so  far  as  the  mere  enu¬ 
meration  of  events  is  concerned”  ( The  Earlier  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul,  p.  13). 

The  importance  of  the  Acts  as  one  of  the  early  docu¬ 
ments  of  Christianity  is  very  great  as  it  shows  the  fate 
of  the  gospel,  its  inherent  power  and  persistence  and  ex¬ 
pansion,  after  it  was  deprived  of  the  personal  presence  of 
Christ  and  was  left  to  make  its  own  way  in  the  world.  It 
is  an  account  of  the  most  critical  period  and  fateful  crisis 
of  Christianity  when  it  faced  the  tremendous  question  of 
its  relation  to  Judaism  and  was  forced  to  determine 
whether  it  was  to  remain  a  Jewish  sect  or  become  a  uni¬ 
versal  faith  and  world  religion.  The  whole  future  of 
our  Christian  faith  was  then  perilously  trembling  in  the 
balance. 

Luke  gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of  this  period  as  an  eye¬ 
witness  and  shows  us  Christianity  unloosing  its  swaddling 
clothes  and  freeing  itself  from  Jewish  strangulation  and 
standing  upon  its  own  feet  and  setting  forth  on  its  world 
march.  It  is  a  magnificent  spectacle  we  witness  in  these 
graphic  pages  and  never  can  they  lose  their  supreme  inter¬ 
est  for  Christian  readers.  “Had  it  not  come  down  to  us,” 
says  Dean  Farrar,  “there  would  have  been  a  blank  in  our 
knowledge  which  scarcely  anything  could  have  filled  up. 
The  origin  of  Christianity  would  have  been  an  insoluble 
enigma.  ’  ’ 

And  yet  there  are  strange  omissions  and  gaps  in  the 
book  and  at  many  points  wre  wonder  at  the  silence  of  the 
historian  and  wish  he  had  told  us  more.  We  would  like  to 
have  known  more  of  the  work  and  fate  of  the  other  Apos¬ 
tles,  especially  of  Peter  and  John,  and  what  became  of 
Mary,  the  mother  of  our  Lord.  Epecially  strange  is  the 
omission  of  any  single  allusion  to  any  one  of  the  Epistles 
of  Paul,  though  Paul  wrrote  some  of  them  when  Luke  was 
with  him.  We  are  fortunate  in  having  four  Gospels  that 
supplement  one  another,  but  we  have  only  one  history  of 


80 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


this  plastic  and  formative  period  of  our  Christian  faith 
and  organization  of  the  Christian  church.  The  silences 
of  Scripture,  however,  may  be  as  significant  as  its  utter¬ 
ances. 

(3)  Contents.  The  history  narrated  in  the  Acts  extends 
from  the  ascension  of  Jesus,  A.  D.  29,  to  near  the  death 
of  Paul  in  Rome,  a  period  of  about  thirty-three  years.  The 
contents  of  the  Acts  may  be  outlined  as  follows : 

I.  The  Church  at  Jerusalem,  1-7. 

1.  Events  immediately  following  the  ascension,  1. 

2.  The  day  of  Pentecost,  2. 

3.  Preaching  of  the  Apostles  in  Jerusalem,  3-4. 

4.  The  fate  of,  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  5. 

5.  Appointment  of  deacons  and  preaching  of  Stephen,  6. 

6.  Martyrdom  of  Stephen,  7-8 : 4. 

II.  Spread  of  the  Gospel  to  Samaria  and  Gaza,  8. 

1.  Preaching  of1  Philip  in  Samaria,  8 : 5-25. 

2.  Philip  at  Gaza,  8 : 26-10. 

III.  Spread  of  the  Gospel  to  Antioch  and  Europe,  9-28. 

1.  Conversion  of  Saul,  9 : 1-31. 

2.  Work  of  Peter,  9  :  32-10  :  48. 

3.  Council  at  Jerusalem  over  receiving  Gentiles,  11 : 1-18. 

4.  The  gospel  reaches  Antioch,  11 : 19-30. 

5.  Persecution  in  Jerusalem,  12. 

6.  Paul’s  first  missionary  journey,  13-14. 

7.  Council  at  Jerusalem  over  circumcision,  15-1 : 35. 

8.  Paul’s  second  missionary  journey,  15  :  36-18  :  22. 

9.  Paul’s  third  missionary  journey,  18  :  3-21 : 16. 

10.  Paul  arrested  at  Jerusalem,  21 : 17-23  :  32. 

11.  Paul  taken  to  Caesarea,  23  :  33-26 :  32. 

12.  The  voyage  to  Rome  and  shipwreck,  27. 

13.  Paul  in  Rome,  28. 

II.  The  Epistles  of  Paul 

(1)  Authorship.  Of  the  thirteen  Epistles  ascribed  to 
Paul,  the  following  ten,  Romans,  I  and  II  Corinthians, 
Galatians,  Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  I  and  II 
Thessalonians,  and  Philemon,  are  from  his  hand  by  clear 
internal  and  external  evidence  and  by  general  agreement 
of  scholars.  They  purport  to  be  written  by  him  and  bear 
his  impress  in  contents  and  knowledge  and  style.  They 
fit  into  their  proper  places  in  Luke’s  narrative  in  the  Acts, 
and  we  are  as  reasonably  sure  of  Paul’s  authorship  of 
these  letters  as  we  are  that  Cicero  wrote  those  that  bear  his 
name. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


81 


In  the  case  of  I  and  II  Timothy  and  Titns,  called  4 ‘Pas¬ 
toral  Epistles’ ’  because  they  give  directions  to  these 
young  ministers  relating  to  their  pastoral  work,  there  is 
difficulty  in  fitting  I  Timothy  and  Titus  into  Luke’s  nar¬ 
rative  of  Paul’s  labors.  In  I  Timothy  and  Titus  Paul  is 
away  from  Rome  and  leaves  Timothy  in  Ephesus  (1:3) 
and  Titus  in  Crete  (1:5),  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  places 
for  these  events  in  the  Acts.  II  Timothy,  however,  falls 
into  place,  for  Paul  is  again  in  Rome  awaiting  execution. 

This  difficulty  is  largely  cleared  up  by  supposing  that 
Paul  was  released  from  his  first  captivity  in  Rome  and 
made  a  fourth  missionary  journey,  during  which  he  ad¬ 
dressed  I  Timothy  and  Titus  to  these  helpers  and  was  then 
again  arrested  and  was  in  Rome  when  he  wrote  II  Tim¬ 
othy.  Some  scholars  adopt  this  solution,  and  others  sup¬ 
pose  that  some  disciple  of  Paul  who  had  some  fragments 
of  his  letters  put  them  into  their  present  form  after  his 
death. 

But  there  are  serious  difficulties  in  this  latter  view,  and 
it  seems  better  to  take  them  as  the  letters  of  Paul  and 
allow  that  there  are  incidental  facts  in  the  case  unknown 
to  us,  which  if  they  were  known  would  clear  the  matter  up. 
As  to  the  vexed  question  why,  if  Paul  made  another  mis¬ 
sionary  journey,  Luke  did  not  tell  about  it  in  the  Acts,  the 
answer  would  be  the  same  as  to  why  he  did  not  tell  about 
Paul’s  death.  He  told  no  more  because  he  knew  no  more 
and  he  wrote  the  Acts  before  anything  more  had  hap¬ 
pened. 

(2)  Circumstances  and  Characteristics  of  the  Epistles. 
We  are  not  to  suppose  that  these  thirteen  Epistles  are  all 
the  letters  Paul  wrote.  They  are  probably  only  a  selec¬ 
tion  of  his  large  correspondence  which  has  been  preserved 
and  incorporated  in  the  New  Testament.  Neither  are  we 
to  suppose  that  Paul  wrote  these  letters  with  any  knowl¬ 
edge  or  thought  that  he  was  composing  divinely  inspired 
letters  that  would  be  thus  preserved  and  read  and  studied 
through  ages  as  Holy  Scriptures.  He  wrote  them  as  any 
one  writes  letters  in  his  correspondence  with  friends,  all 
unconsciously  of  the  divine  Providence  that  was  guiding 
him  and  caring  for  these  letters  for  our  instruction  and 
edification.  Inspiration  fulfils  itself  in  many  ways,  and, 


82  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

like  the  wind,  the  divine  breath  bloweth  where  and  how  it 
listeth. 

They  are  all  letters  addressed  to  churches  and  individ¬ 
uals  for  practical  purposes.  Every  one  of  them  was  oc¬ 
casioned  by  some  special  cause  or  condition  that  called  for 
instruction  or  correction  or  advice  from  Paul.  Their  con- 
'  tents  were  thus  adapted  and  addressed  to  local  conditions 
and  personal  needs  and  are  written  in  the  free  and  direct 
and  incidental  method  and  style  of  personal  correspond¬ 
ence.  They  almost  wholly  lack  the  structure  and  style  of 
a  systematic  treatise,  or  of  writings  intended  for  general, 
publication. 

Yet  they  are  none  the  less  but  rather  all  the  more  val¬ 
uable  on  this  account.  They  illustrate  abstract  principles 
in  their  concrete  application,  and  this  is  one  of  the  best 
ways  of  imparting  such  truth.  They  touch  a  large  range 
and  variety  of  topics  both  doctrinal  and  practical  as  they 
deal  with  the  peculiar  conditions  of  these  first  Christian 
churches  while  they  were  plastic  and  involved  in  all  the 
difficulties  and  dangers,  factions  and  corruptions  of  their 
day,  when  Christianity  was  new  and  had  not  yet  devel¬ 
oped  forms  and  creeds  and  was  especially  subject  to  the 
environment  of  heathen  customs  and  morals,  temptations 
and  persecutions.  And  all  the  way  through  Paul  is  the 
uncompromising  defender  and  bold  champion  of  the  lib¬ 
erty  of  the  gospel  and  the  universality  of  the  Christian 
faith  against  the  claims  and  struggles  of  Judaism  to*  con¬ 
strict  Christianity  with  its  own  bondage  and  doom  it  as  a 
Jewish  sect. 

Paul  was  a  born  thinker  and  theologian  and  while  deal¬ 
ing  with  these  local  and  temporary  conditions  he  was  all 
unconsciously  forging  his,  own  Christian  ideas  and  expe¬ 
rience  into  shape  and  use  and  working  out  the  fundamen¬ 
tal  principles  and  doctrines  of  the  new  faith  and  thus  lay¬ 
ing  the  foundations  of  our  Christian  creeds  and  polities. 
Without  imposing  on  us  fixed  and  final  forms  he  yet  fur¬ 
nished  us  with  the  materials  that  are  the  substance  of  our 
formal  faith  today. 

These  letters  are  characterized  by  Paul’s  intellectual 
and  emotional  temper  and  spirit  of  independent  thought 
and  bold  solution  of  problems  and  brave  action.  His  pages 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


83 


are  often  so  charged  with  thought  and  feeling  that  the 
words  come  tumbling  from  his  pen  in  a  tumultuous  tor¬ 
rent,  sometimes  as  broken  or  chaotic®  sentences  that  defy 
the  rules  of  grammar  and  give  infinite  trouble  to  the 
commentators.  Yet  Paul  the  philosopher  and  theologian 
was  also  Paul  the  mystic  and  poet  and  his  imagination 
could  utter  winged  words  and  soar  into  rhythmic  melody 
and  beauty  that  are  the  praise  and  the  charm  of  the  ages, 
such  as  the  immortal  prose-poem  in  I  Cor.  13. 

Paul  was  the  first  and  greatest  theologian  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  church.  He  forged  the  simple  gospel  into  a  logical 
system  that  roots  it  in  the  brain  as  well  as  in  the  heart; 
he  put  bones  into  its  flesh  and  rocks  under  its  flowers  and 
fruits.  Such  a  work  was  necessary  to  give  system  and  sta¬ 
bility  to  the  gospel,  without  which  “the  sweet  Galilean 
vision”  might  have  melted  into  mist. 

(3)  Chronology  of  Paul’s  Life  and  Letters.  In  the 
Authorized  Version  the  place  of  the  writing  of  each  of 
Paul’s  Epistles  is  appended  to  it,  but  these  notations  were 
added  to  the  manuscripts  by  later  hands  and  are  omitted 
in  the  Revised  Version  as  no  part  of  the  original  text.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  they  are  all  wrong.  But  internal  evidence 
indicates  with  a  considerable  degree  of  assurance  the 
places  of  the  writing  of  the  Epistles  with  several  excep¬ 
tions. 

The  following  outline  of  events  and  dates  in  the  life  of 
Paul  will  enable  us  to  locate  most  of  his  letters.  These 
dates  are  the  ones  adopted  by  Harnack  and  some  other 
scholars,  and  while  they  are  subject  to  more  or  less  uncer¬ 
tainty  and  difference  of  view  among  scholars,  yet  they 
may  be  taken  as  approximating-  the  truth. 

Paul  was  converted  within  a  year  after  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Christ,  and  this  gives  us  the  year  30  A.  D. 
as  the  base  line  from  which  to  start.  After  spending  three 
years  in  retirement,  Paul  went  up  to  Jerusalem  in  33  and 
then  proceeded  to  his  home  city  of  Tarsus  in  Asia  Minor, 
where  he  appears  to  have  remained  about  ten  years  when  he 
came  to  Antioch.  He  went  up  to  Jerusalem  with  the  famine 
relief  fund  (Acts  11:27-30),  and  the  known  year  of  this 
famine  fixes  this  visit  in  44.  Counting  hack  fourteen 
years,  according  to  his  statement  in  Gal.  2 :1,  gives  30  A.  D. 


84 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


as  the  year  of  Paul’s  conversion.  His  first  missionary 
journey  from  Antioch  through  Cyprus  into  Asia  Minor 
and  back  was  in  45,  and  after  his  return  to  Antioch  and 
before  the  council  at  Jerusalem  of  Acts  15  in  47  he  prob¬ 
ably  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  He  set  out  on  his 
second  missionary  journey  in  47  and  labored  a  year  and  a 
half  in  Corinth,  48,  where  he  wrote  I  and  II  Thessalonians. 
He  returned  from  Corinth  by  way  of  Jerusalem  to  Antioch, 
whence  he  started  on  the  third  missionary  journey  in  50 
and  spent  three  years  in  Ephesus  where  he  wrote  I  Corin¬ 
thians.  Going  by  way  of  Macedonia,  where  he  wrote  II 
Corinthians,  he  went  on  to  Corinth  for  a  second  visit 
where  he  wrote  Romans,  he  again  returned  to  Jerusalem, 
where  he  was  arrested  in  54,  was  held  at  Caesarea  two 
years  and  arrived  at  Rome  in  57,  where  he  was  in  prison 
two  years,  57-59,  during  which  time  he  wrote  Philippians, 
Ephesians,  Colossians  and  Philemon.  He  was  then  prob¬ 
ably  released  and  made  a  fourth  missionary  journey,  dur¬ 
ing  which  he  wrote  I  Timothy  and  Titus.  Arrested  a  sec¬ 
ond  time,  he  was  again  imprisoned  in  Rome,  when  he  wrote 
II  Timothy,  his  last  extant  letter,  and  probably  perished 
in  the  Neronian  persecution  in  64  A.  D. 

(4)  (Contents  of  the  Epistles.  As  the  Epistles  usually 
do  not  follow  any  logical  form,  any  analysis  of  their  con¬ 
tents  is  more  or  less  arbitrary,  but  their  chief  subjects  and 
points  can  be  stated.  We  shall  follow  the  order  in  which 
they  are  found  in  the  New  Testament,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  not  the  order  in  which  they  were  written. 

Romans 

Paul  wrote  Romans  as  a  letter  to  the  church  at  Rome 
when  he  was  at  Corinth  on  his  third  missionary  journey, 
as  is  indicated  by  his  reference  to  Cenchrea  (16:1),  which 
was  the  seaport  of  that  city.  His  thoughts  had  long  been 
turning  towards  Rome  as  the  metropolis  and  mighty  hub 
of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  world  magnet  which  then 
attracted  all  eyes  and  to  which  all  things  in  commerce  and 
government  and  art  and  religion  irresistibly  gravitated. 
Already  a  Christian  church  existed  at  Rome  composed  of 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  this  Epistle  was  intended  to 
prepare  the  way  for  his  coming.  Christianity  had  in  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


85 


start  and  has  ever  since  had  an  affinity  for  great  cities  and 
seized  them  as  strategic  centers,  and  Panl  felt  that  his 
work  would  be  incomplete  until  he  had  helped  to  estab¬ 
lish  the  gospel  in  this  central  and  supreme  city  in  the 
world  of  his  day. 

The  Epistle  partakes  of  the  characteristics  of  his  mind 
and  heart,  logical  in  its  arguments  yet  urgent  and  at  times 
tortuous  in  its  spirit  and  style  and  culminating  in  great 
practical  applications.  More  than  any  other  book  in  the 
Bible  it  approaches  being  a  treatise  on  systematic  theology 
and  works  out  the  great  doctrines  of  God’s  sovereignty 
and  grace.  Its  central  word  is  righteousness,  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  God  as  expressed  in  the  redemption  of  the 
world.  It  will  ever  stand  as  Paul’s  masterpiece,  and 
Coleridge  declared  it  to  be  the  “profoundest  book  in  ex¬ 
istence.  ’  ’ 

Its  chief  points  are: 

I.  Salutation  and  plan,  1 : 1-15. 

II.  Doctrinal,  1 : 16-11. 

1.  Righteousness  based  on  faith,  1 : 16-8. 

2.  Israel’s  rejection  of  God’s  righteousness,  9-11. 

III.  Hortatory  applications.  12-15  : 13. 

IY.  Personal  notes,  15 :  14-16. 

I  and  II  Corinthians 

The  First  Epistle  to  the  church  at  Corinth  was  written 
by  Paul  while  he  wras  in  Ephesus  on  his  third  journey. 
He  had  founded  the  church  at  Corinth  on  his  second  jour¬ 
ney,  but  much  had  happened  in  the  several  years  of  his 
absence  and  factions  had  arisen  and  moral  laxness  had 
developed  and  pagan  customs  had  reasserted  themselves. 
The  general  object  of  the  first  letter  was  to  deal  with  these 
conditions  and  set  them  right. 

Soon  after  sending  the  First  Epistle  he  heard  the  good 
news  that  the  evils  at  Corinth  had  been  corrected  and  he 
then  dispatched,  from  Macedonia  whither  he  had  gone 
(II  Cor.  2:12-13),  the  Second  Epistle  in  which  he  ex¬ 
presses  his  joy  at  the  happy  turn  of  affairs. 

At  this  point  we  must  consider  the  peculiar  relations  of 
First  and  Second  Corinthians.  We  learn  from  1  Cor.  5:9 
that  Paul  had  written  an  earlier  letter  to  the  church  at 
Corinth,  which  has  been  lost.  In  II  Cor.  7 :8-9  we  further 


86 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


discover  that  he  had  written  still  another  letter  to  the 
Corinthians  so  severe  in  its  condemnation  that  he  was  now 
sorry  for  it,  and  it  is  thought  that  this  letter  has  also  been 
lost.  But  chapters  10-13  of  Second  Corinthians  are  so 
sharp  in  their  condemnation  of  Paul’s  opponents  at  Cor¬ 
inth  that  some  scholars  think  that  these  chapters  cannot 
belong  to  Second  Corinthians,  which  was  sent  as  a  letter 
of  thanksgiving  and  joy,  and  that  they  are  the  lost  letter 
of  condemnation,  which  Paul  regretted,  which  has  become 
bound  up  with  the  Second  Epistle.  This  is  only  a  conjec¬ 
ture,  but  it  would  explain  the  incongruity  of  the  last  four 
chapters  of  the  Second  Epistle  with  its  main  body  and  evi¬ 
dent  purpose  and  spirit.  It  would  not  be  strange  that 
manuscript  letters  should  thus  get  joined  together. 

The  chief  points  of  I  Corinthians  are: 

I.  Salutation  and  thanksgiving,  1 : 1-9. 

II.  Rebukes,  1-6. 

III.  Answers  to  questions,  7-11. 

IV.  Spiritual  gifts,  12-13. 

V.  The  resurrection,  15. 

VI.  Personal  matters,  16. 

The  chief  points  of  II  Corinthians  are: 

I.  Introduction,  1 : 1-11. 

II.  Thankfulness  in  retrospect,  1 : 12-7. 

III.  The  collection  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem,  8-9. 

IV.  Opponents  at  Corinth  condemned,  10-13. 

Galatians 

The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  addressed  to  “the 
churches  of  Galatia”  (1:2),  the  churches  in  Asia  Minor 
at  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  Iconium,  Lystra  and  Derbe  which 
Paul  had  founded  on  his  first  missionary  journey  (Acts 
13-14:25).  The  occasion  of  the  letter  was  the  falling  away 
of  these  churches  from  the  liberty  of  the  gospel  into  Ju¬ 
daism  which  caused  Paul  to  “marvel  that  ye  are  so  soon 
removed  from  him  that  called  you  into  the  grace  of  Christ 
unto  another  gospel”  (1:6).  Judaizing  teachers,  probably 
from  Jerusalem,  had  come  in  among  them  and  were  tell¬ 
ing  the  Gentile  converts  that  they  must  be  circumcised 
and  obey  the  law  of  Moses,  and  some  of  them  were  on  the 
point  of  accepting  circumcision.  This  was  all  flat  in  the 
face  of  what  Paul  had  taught  them  as  to  being  free  from 
the  ceremonial  law. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


87 


These  Judaizers  also  attacked  Paul  himself,  throwing 
doubt  on  the  validity  of  his  standing  as  an  apostle.  Paul 
defended  himself  against  this  charge  by  showing  that  he 
received  the  gospel,  not  from  men,  but  by  the  revelation 
of  Christ  (1:11-12).  He  also  tells  in  chapter  2  of  a  visit 
to  Jerusalem  in  which  he  met  with  Peter  and  James  and 
John  where  he  stood  for  the  ‘ ‘liberty  which  we  have  in 
Christ,”  and  as  a  result  of  this  private  conference  “the 
gospel  of  the  uncircumcision  was  committed  unto  me,  as 
the  gospel  of  the  circumcision  was  unto  Peter”  (1:7). 
Thus  he  stood  on  an  equality  with  these  apostles  and  the 
question  of  the  liberty  of  the  Gentile  converts  as  being 
free  from  the  ceremonial  law  was  debated  and  settled. 

If  the  time  of  this  visit  could  be  determined  it  would 
help  to  settle  the  time  of  the  writing  of  this  Epistle. 
There  was  a  council  held  at  Jerusalem  to  decide  whether 
the  Judaistic  ceremonies  were  to  be  imposed  on  the  Gentile 
converts,  and  a  decree  was  issued  to  be  delivered  to  these 
churches  that  they  were  not  subject  to  the  burdens  of  the 
Mosaic  law  (Acts  15).  Does  the  visit  of  Gal.  2  refer  to 
this  council  of  Acts  15?  It  would  seem  that  it  cannot  do 
so,  for  if  it  did  we  would  expect  to  find  Paul  using  this 
decree  in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians  to  sustain  and  prove 
his  point  as  to  their  freedom  from  the  law.  But  he  is  silent 
as  to  any  such  council  and  decree,  and  it  is  therefore  held 
by  many  scholars  that  Gal.  2  refers  to  a  visit  to  Jerusalem 
earlier  than  the  council  of  Acts  15,  possibly  to  the  famine 
relief  visit  mentioned  in  Acts  11 :  30  or  to  some  unmen¬ 
tioned  visit.  This  view,  which  was  held  by  Calvin,  has  the 
powerful  support  of  Ramsay  and  other  scholars. 

If  this  was  the  case,  then  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 
was  written  between  the  return  from  the  first  missionary 
journey  and  the  second  journey,  probably  at  Antioch. 
This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  Paul  did  deliver 
the  decree  to  the  Galatian  churches  on  his  second  jour¬ 
ney  (Acts  16:4),  showing  that  he  did  not  have  this  de¬ 
cree  when  he  wrote  his  letter  to  them.  This  is  at  least  a 
probable  solution  of  this  problem,  but  other  scholars  do 
not  accept  it  and  date  the  Epistle  after  the  second  jour¬ 
ney,  and  some  think  it  was  probably  written  at  Ephesus 
when  Paul  was  there  on  his  third  journey. 


88 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


If  the  Epistle  was  written  at  Antioch  between  the  first 
and  second  visits  to  these  churches,  then  Galatians  is  the 
earliest  of  the  New  Testament  books,  and  with  the  first 
scratch  of  Paul’s  pen  on  the  parchment  of  this  Epistle  in¬ 
spiration,  which  had  been  hushed  four  hundred  years  since 
Malachi,  broke  its  silence  and  the  New  Testament  began 
to  be  written. 

.•  The  main  body  of  the  Epistle  is  an  impetuous  and  im¬ 
passioned  argument  and  plea  against  the  bondage  of  the 
law  which  was  being  forced  on  the  Gentile  converts  and 
for  the  liberty  of  believers  in  Christ.  “0  foolish  Gala¬ 
tians,  who  hath  bewitched  you  .  .  .  ?  Having  begun  in 
the  Spirit,  are  ye  now  made  perfect  by  the  flesh?”  (3:1, 
3).  Paul  felt  that  if  these  Galatian  churches  of  his  were 
led  away  into  Judaism  his  work  would  be  wrecked,  and 
hence  he  fights  as  for  the  life  of  his  children  and  for  his 
own  life  in  defending  the  liberty  of  the  gospel  and  salva¬ 
tion  by  faith  alone. 

The  main  points  of  the  letter  are  : 

I.  Introduction,  1 : 1-10. 

II.  Paul’s  defence  of  himself,  1  :ll-2 :  21. 

III.  Freedom  from  the  law  and  salvation  by  faith,  3-5. 

IV.  Exhortations  to  the  Christian  life,  6. 

Ephesians 

Paul  spent  three  years  on  his  third  missionary  journey 
in  Ephesus  (Acts  19)  and  founded  a  church  there.  The 
letter  to  this  church  was  writen  at  Rome,  as  were  also 
Colossians,  Philippians  and  Philemon,  these  four  being 
known  as  “the  Epistles  of  the  imprisonment.” 

While  it  is  said  in  1 : 1  to  be  addressed  to  the  saints  1 1  in 
Ephesus,”  yet  these  words  are  not  in  some  of  the  earliest 
and  best  manuscripts.  If  the  letter  was  specially  ad¬ 
dressed  to  this  church  it  is  strange  that  it  contains  no 
personal  greetings,  as  Paul’s  letters  nearly  always  do, 
and  it  is  still  stranger  that  he  speaks  as  if  their  knowledge 
of  his  ministry  were  only  hearsay  (3:2-4)  and  of  his 
knowledge  of  them  as  being  of  a  similar  character  (1:15). 

It  is  therefore  thought  that  this  Epistle  was  a  general 
letter  to  be  circulated  among  all  the  churches  in  the  region 
of  Ephesus  and  this  wrnuld  explain  these  characteristics. 

It  is  a  letter  of  general  Christian  doctrine  and  guidance 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


89 


and  comfort.  No  particular  trouble  has  arisen  to  call  for 
correction.  The  Judaistic  controversy  has  been  settled 
and  the  churches  are  in  a  state  of  normal  peace  and  growth. 
Paul  himself  has  quieted  down  and  writes  less  impetuously 
and  pugnaciously,  and  his  style  has  grown  calmer  and 
smoother.  He  had  won  his  case  and  established  the  gospel 
on  the  sure  foundation  of  liberty  and  faith  in  Christ. 
This  Epistle  is  not,  therefore,  a  battle  cry,  as  were  his 
earlier  letters,  but  moves  in  the  serener  region  of  faith 
and  faithfulness  and  of  growth  in  the  knowledge  and  grace 
of  Christ.  The  emancipator  of  Galatians  has  now  become 
the  spiritualizer  of  Ephesians. 

Its  main  points  may  be  outlined  as  follows : 

I.  Salutation  and  thanksgiving,  1. 

II.  The  privileges  and  duties  of  the  Christian  life,  2. 

III.  How  Paul  obtained  his  knowledge  of  the  gospel  and 

his  prayer  for  his  readers,  3. 

IV.  Practical  exhortations,  4-6. 

Philippians 

The  church  at  Philippi  was  the  first  Christian  church  in 
Europe  and  was  founded  by  Paul  on  his  second  mission¬ 
ary  journey  after  he  had  crossed  at  Troas  from  Asia  to 
Europe  (Acts  16:11-40). 

The  converts  in  this  church  were  specially  dear  to  Paul 
as  he  was  to  them.  Knowing  of  his  imprisonment  in  Rome 
they  made  up  a  contribution  or  donation  which  they  sent 
to  him  by  one  of  their  members,  Epaphroditus.  This 
messenger  fell  ill  in  Rome  and  Paul  nursed  him  through 
the  disease  and  then  sent  him  back  to  Philippi  bearing 
this  letter  to  his  friends  at  that  place  (2:25-30).  It  is 
evident  that  Paul  is  in  prison  in  Rome  from  various  allu¬ 
sions  in  the  letter,  such  as  4 ‘the  palace”  or  “praetorian 
guard”  (1:13)  and  “Caesar’s  household”  (4:22). 
Though  in  prison  yet  he  is  expecting  release  (2:24),  and 
this  rather  favors  the  view  that  he  was  released  and  en¬ 
gaged  in  further  missionary  labors  and  was  then  impris¬ 
oned  a  second  time  before  his  execution,  thus  leaving  room 
for  the  pastoral  Epistles,  Titus,  and  I  and  II  Timothy. 

Paul  writes  to  the  Philippians  to  cheer  them  in  view 
of  their  despondency  over  his  imprisonment,  to  express 
his  warm  appreciation  of  their  gift,  to  warn  them  against 


90 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


false  teaching,  and  to  counsel  them  to  cultivate  and  exer¬ 
cise  the  Christian  graces. 

Its  main  topics  are  as  follows : 

I.  Salutation  and  thanksgiving,  1 : 12-30. 

II.  Statement  as  to  Paul’s  condition,  1 : 12-30. 

III.  Exhortations,  2 : 1-18. 

IV.  Paul’s  plans  for  the  future,  2 : 19-30. 

V.  Final  exhortations,  4. 

COLOSSIANS 

The  church  at  Colosse  was  not  founded  or  ever  visited 
by  Paul,  but  may  have  been  established  by  some  of  his 
converts  from  the  city  of  Ephesus  which  lay  to  the  west, 
Paul’s  Epistle  to  this  church  was  written  at  Rome  and 
was  sent  by  Tychicus  (4:7),  who  also  carried  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  (6:21).  Onesimus  was  §dso  along  with 
Tychicus  with  his  letter  to  Philemon  (Col.  4 :9). 

Serious  trouble  was  brewing  in  the  Colossian  church 
calling  for  a  special  letter  from  Paul  in  addition  to  the 
circular  letter  to  the  Ephesian  and  other  churches. 
Judaizers  were  at  wTork  in  this  church  (2:10-17),  but 
along  with  these  reversions  to  Mosaic  ceremonies  were 
mixed  some  elements  of  pagan  philosophy,  such  as  the 
worship  of  angels  (2:8,  18)  and  other  supernatural  be¬ 
ings  and  also  a  tendency  to  extreme  asceticism  (2:20-23). 

Paul  fheets  these  errors  by  emphasizing  the  liberty  which 
is  in  Christ  (2:16-17;  3:10-11)  and  especially  by  exalt¬ 
ing  Christ  to  equality  with  God  (2:9)  and  showing  that 
he  is  the  head  of  the  creation  in  whom  all  things  consist 
or  hold  together  (1:15-19).  Thus  Paul  leaves  no  room 
for  pagan  powers  as  objects  of  worship  and  enthrones 
Christ  in  his  immanent  relation  to  the  church  and  to  the 
universe.  In  no  other  book  of  Scripture  is  the  person  of 
Christ  so  clearly  set  forth,  and  his  divine  rank  and  power 
more  surely  asserted  and  established. 

The  outline  of  the  Epistle  is  as  follows : 

I.  Salutation  and  thanksgiving,  1 : 1-15. 

II.  The  supremacy  of  Christ,  1 : 16-20. 

III.  Warnings  against  false  teachings,  2. 

IV.  Exhortations,  3-4. 

I  and  II  Thessalonians 

Thessalonica  was  the  second  city  in  Europe  where  Paul 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


91 


founded  a  church  (Acts  17:1-9).  Here  the  Jews  stirred 
up  a  tumult  against  him  and  he  thought  it  advisable  to 
leave,  passing  on  to  Berea  and  Athens  and  then  to  Corinth. 
He  kept  in  communication  with  his  friends  at  Thessa- 
lonica  through  Silas  and  Timothy  (Acts  18:5)  and  heard 
of  their  steadfastness  in  the  midst  of  continued  persecu¬ 
tion;  and  this  good  news  moved  him  to  write  his  first 
letter  to  them  which  is  overflowing  with  thankfulness  and 
joy  at  their  Christian  faithfulness  so  that  from  them 
‘  *  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord  not  only  in  Macedonia 
and  Achaia,  but  also  in  every  place  your  faith  to  Godward 
is  spread  abroad’’  (1:8). 

In  the  course  of  his  letter  he  introduces  a  passage  on 
the  final  coming  of  the  Lord  (4:13-18)  in  which  he  tells 
them  that  they  are  not  to  sorrow  over  their  dead  as  those 
who  have  no  hope,  for  they  that  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God 
bring  with  him  and  those  who  are  alive  at  the  coming  of 
the  Lord  shall  have  no  precedence  over  them  which  are 
already  fallen  asleep. 

This  passage,  instead  of  comforting  the  Thessalonians, 
had  the  unexpected  and  unhappy  effect  of  creating  dis¬ 
sension  and  alarm,  as  the  matter  of  the  final  coming  of 
the  Lord  has  so  often  done  to  this  day.  It  was  seized  upon 
by  some  of  the  Thessalonians  and  made  to  mean  that  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  was  already  impending  and  might 
happen  at  any  moment,  and  this  was  greatly  exciting  and 
dividing  the  church. 

To  correct  this  erroneous  view  Paul  hastened  to  write  his 
Second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  in  which  he  expressly 
stated  that  4 ‘that  day  shall  not  come”  until  certain  other 
events  come  to  pass,  and  he  mentions  a  falling  away  from 
the  faith  and  the  revelation  of  the  “man  of  sin”  (2:1-12), 
events  which  appear  to  be  yet  in  the  future. 

This  troublesome  question  and  Paul’s  solution  of  it  illus¬ 
trates  his  skill  in  meeting  emergencies  and  solving  diffi¬ 
culties  ;  and  it  also  shows  how  the  prevailing  J ewish  apoc¬ 
alyptic  hope  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  a  cosmic  catas¬ 
trophe,  that  was  attended  with  such  alarm  and  practical 
evil  consequences,  was  by  him  reduced  to  sanity  and  turned 
to  orderly  living.  More  and  more  in  his  Epistles  the  apoc¬ 
alyptic  catastrophe  kingdom  becomes  a  spiritual  reign 


92  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

of  God  in  the  hearts  of  believers  which  is  to  grow  through 
the  ages. 

Thus  early  was  Scripture  misunderstood  and  turned  to 
controversy  and  dissension  and  dangerous  misinterpreta¬ 
tion  and  perversion  and  uses,  a  fate  that  has  attended  it 
through  all  the  Christian  centuries  and  is  still  disturbing 
and  dividing  the  church. 

According  to  the  scheme  here  adopted  the  two  Epistles 
to  the  Thessalonians  were  the  second  and  third  letters 
written  by  Paul,  Galatians  being  the  first. 

Outline  of  I  Thessalonians: 

I.  Paul’s  thankfulness,  1. 

II.  Paul’s  defence  of  himself,  2-3. 

III.  Exhortations,  4  : 1-12. 

IV.  The  coming  of  the  Lord,  4  :  13-5 : 11. 

V.  Final  Words,  5  : 12-28. 

Outline  of  II  Thessalonians: 

I.  Salutations  and  thanksgiving,  1. 

II.  The  coming  of  the  Lord,  2. 

III.  Exhortations,  3. 

I  and  II  Timothy 

As  we  have  already  seen  there  is  difficulty  in  inserting 
the  Pastoral  Epistles,  I  and  II  Timothy  and  Titus,  in  the 
narrative  of  Paul’s  life  in  the  Acts,  and  therefore  they 
can  be  best  accounted  for  by  supposing  that  Paul  was 
released  from  his  first  imprisonment  and  did  further  mis¬ 
sionary  work,  during  which  he  wrote  I  Timothy  and  Titus, 
and  that  he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  a  second  time, 
during  which  he  wrote  II  Timothy.  Early  tradition  sup¬ 
ports  this  view. 

In  I  Timothy  we  learn  that  Paul  had  urged  Timothy  to 
remain  in  Ephesus  when  he  himself  went  into  Macedonia 
(1:3).  Just  where  Paul  was  when  he  wrote  the  letter 
cannot  be  determined.  He  is  chiefly  concerned  in  his  first 
letter  to  his  disciple  with  two  things:  erroneous  teaching 
and  church  government.  The  church  at  Ephesus,  as  was 
the  case  with  all  these  early  churches,  was  constantly  ex¬ 
posed  to  false  teachers  (1:3),  and  their  doctrines  were 
generally  some  form  of  Judaism  (1 :  4-8 ;  4 :  3)  or  of  pagan 
philosophy  (6:20).  These  converts,  being  mostly  Gen¬ 
tiles,  were  greatly  disturbed  by  claims  that  they  must 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


93 


obey  the  Mosaic  law;  and  that  ancient  world  was  rife 
with  many  religions  and  philosophies  which  were  vain 
speculations  as  to  strange  forms  of  knowledge  (Gnosti¬ 
cism)  or  as  to  the  evil  nature  of  the  material  world  or 
as  to  the  nature  of  angels  and  the  spirit  world.  Paul  is 
guarding  Timothy  and  the  church  under  his  care  against 
these  dangers. 

These  early  churches  were  also  developing  forms  of 
organization  or  government  with  officers,  such  as  elders 
and  deacons.  Paul  did  not  himself  institute  any  of  these 
offices,  but  they  grew  up  and  were  adopted  as  they  were 
needed,  as  in  the  case  of  deacons  in  the  church  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem  (Acts  6: 1-6).  Paul,  however,  had  much  to  say  about 
the  selection  and  character  and  conduct  of  these  officers 
(3:1-13).  Interspersed  among  these  warnings  and  direc¬ 
tions  and  other  practical  matters  are  many  passages  in 
which  Paul  rises  to  noble  heights  of  doctrinal  and  spir¬ 
itual  eloquence,  as  in  6 : 15-16. 

i  In  II  Timothy  Paul  is  again  in  prison  in  Kome  and 
under  the  very  shadow  of  his  execution.  He  is  not  now 
concerned  with  doctrinal  errors  and  points  of  church 
polity  but  has  passed  into  the  state  of  mind  in  which  he 
feels  that  his  work  is  done  and  he  is  only  waiting  to  be 
offered  (4:6-8).  His  second  letter  therefore  abounds  in 
admonitions  to  Timothy  to  be  faithful  in  doctrine  and  life 
(2:1-26),  and  he  is  anxious  and  urgent  that  his  beloved 
disciple  would  hasten  to  come  to  him  (4:  9-15).  The  vet¬ 
eran  soldier  who  has  fought  so  many  battles  with  un¬ 
wearied  energy  and  undaunted  bravery  is  now  spent  and 
faint  and  longs  for  companionship  and  comfort.  And  yet 
his  faith  is  undimmed  and  in  the  very  presence  of  the 
tragic  end  his  spirit  rises  to  its  noblest  height  of 
courage  and  eloquence  in  his  final  note  of  victory  (4:7-8). 

Outline  of  I  Timothy: 

I.  Salutation,  1 : 1-2. 

II.  Personal  exhortations  to  Timothy,  1 :  3-20. 

III.  Exhortations  to  prayer  and  as  to  women  keeping 

silence  in  church,  2. 

IV.  Directions  as  to  elders,  deacons  and  widows,  3 : 1-16, 

5 : 1-25. 

V.  Doctrinal  injunctions,  4. 

VI.  B'urther  exhortations,  6. 


94 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Outline  of  II  Timothy : 

I.  Salutation,  1 : 1-2. 

II.  Personal  exhortations  to  Timothy,  1:3-4:  8. 

III.  Personal  messages,  4 :  9-22. 

Titus 

The  Epistle  to  Titus  closely  parallels  I  Timothy  in  that 
the  same  doctrinal  errors  and  problems  of  church  gov¬ 
ernment  are  dealt  with  in  both  letters.  Paul  had  left  Titus 
at  Crete  (1:5),  just  when  cannot  be  determined,  and  now 
sends  him  instructions  as  to  his  work  and  duties  among 
the  churches  on  that  island.  False  teaching  by  “vain 
talkers,  specially  they  of  the  circumcision”  (1:10),  had 
appeared  among  these  churches,  and  Titus  was  directed 
to  “ordain  elders  in  every  city”  (1:5),  and  specific  di¬ 
rections  were  given  him  as  to  these  officers.  Thus  the  work 
of  Timothy  in  Ephesus  and  the  work  of  Titus  in  Crete  are 
very  similar,  and  hence  the  contents  of  the  two  letters, 
probably  written  near  the  same  time,  are  similar  in  con¬ 
tents  and  teaching. 

Outline  of  Titus: 

I.  Salutation,  1 : 1-4. 

II.  Directions  as  to  elders,  1 :  5-16. 

III.  Admonitions  as  to  the  daily  life  of  believers,  2-3 :  3. 

IV.  Doctrinal  instructions,  3  :  4-11. 

V.  Personal  matters,  5 : 12-15. 

Philemon 

This  letter  is  the  gem  among  Paul’s  Epistles  and  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  pro¬ 
foundly  significant  things  in  the  Bible.  Onesimus  was 
a  slave  who  had  probably  robbed  and  then  run  away  from 
his  master,  Philemon,  in  Colosse,  and  turned  up  in  Rome, 
the  whirlpool  towards  which  all  the  flotsam  and  jetsam 
of  the  world  then  drifted.  Here  Paul  found  him  and 
converted  him  and  became  dearly  attached  to  him. 

The  problem  now  arose,  What  was  to  be  done  with 
the  convert  who  was  still  the  legal  slave  of  his  master? 
There  was  no  hesitation  on  this  point  on  the  part  of  either 
Paul  or  Onesimus.  Paul  sent  the  slave  back  to  his  mas¬ 
ter  with  this  little  letter.  He  greets  Philemon  as  “our 
dearly  beloved  brother”  and  thanks  God  for  his  Christian 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


95 


love  and  faith,  appeals  to  him  as  “Paul  the  aged,”  for 
he  was  in  prison  for  the  last  time,  and  beseeches  him  on 
behalf  of  “my  son  Onesimus  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my 
bonds,”  and  begs  his  master  to  “receive  him”  “not  now 
as  a  servant,  but  above  a  servant,  a  brother  beloved.” 
He.  offers  to  make  good  and  pay  out  of  his  own  pocket  any 
loss  which  Philemon  may  have  sustained  through  Onesi¬ 
mus,  and  reminds  him  how  much  he  owes  Paul  and  deli¬ 
cately  hints  at  the  emancipation  of  Onesimus,  “knowing 
that  thou  wilt  also  do  more  than  I  say.”  Thus  graciously 
did  Paul  negotiate  this  ticklish  business  with  his  friend 
Philemon  and  restore  the  slave  to  his  master,  but  under 
new  conditions  in  which  the  old  relation  of  ownership 
was  transformed  and  transfigured  into  Christian  brother¬ 
hood. 

Why  did  Paul  not  himself  free  the  slave  and  demand 
his  emancipation  from  the  Christian  master?  Because 
the  day  for  this  had  not  yet  come.  Slavery  was  then  so 
deeply  rooted  in  law  and  custom  and  social  ideas  that  it 
could  not  be  suddenly  eradicated  by  violent  means.  Only 
time  could  work  such  changes  in  the  mental  and  moral  cli¬ 
mate  of  the  world  that  this  old  evil  could  be  abolished. 

But  Paul  did  breathe  a  spirit  through  this  letter  into 
this  relation  which  in  time  was  a  silent  but  powerful  in¬ 
fluence  in  abolishing  it.  In  fact  this  little  letter  put  a 
charge  of  moral  dynamite  under  the  institution  of  slav¬ 
ery  which  did  blow  it  out  of  the  world;  or  it  diffused 
through  the  atmosphere  of  civilization  a  spirit  of  human¬ 
ity  and  brotherhood  which  in  the  course  of  the  Christian 
centuries  dissolved  the  fetters  of  slavery  as  the  balmy 
breath  of  the  spring  melts  the  icy  bonds  of  winter.  Yerily 
the  hand  of  Paul  in  penning  this  brief  letter  reached 
through  the  ages  and  helped  to  write,  along  with  the  hand 
of  Lincoln,  the  American  Emancipation  Proclamation. 

Outline  of  Philemon: 

I,  Salutation  and  thanksgiving,  1-7. 

II.  Appeals  to  Philemon,  8-21. 

III.  Personal  matters,  22-25. 

(5)  Keview  of  the  Epistles.  As  we  review  the  letters 
of  Paul  as  a  whole  we  see  that  they  form  his  autobiog¬ 
raphy  and  reflect  the  many-sided,  variously-colored  aspects 


96 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


of  his  life.  They  are  full  of  the  city  and  market-place 
and  sea,  of  the  Roman  theater  and  games,  of  all  the  re¬ 
ligious  ideas  and  controversies  of  his  day,  and  of  all  the 
storm  and  stress  of  his  picturesque  career.  Hebrew  re¬ 
ligion  and  Greek  thought  and  Roman  life  are  interwoven 
throughout  their  entire  fabric.  They  are  Paul  as  painted 
by  himself,  and  no  other  life  in  the  Roman  Empire  of  his 
day  stands  out  in  such  intimate  and  lifelike  portraiture 
and  realistic  colors. 

There  is  plainly  in  them  a  progression  of  ideas  and 
spirit.  In  general  this  progress  is  from  the  outer  to  the 
inner,  from  the  objective  and  ceremonial  to  the  subjective 
and  spiritual,  from  controversy  to  conciliation,  from  logic 
to  life,  from  the  external  apocalyptic  kingdom  in  the 
world  to  the  inner  reign  of  God  in  the  heart,  from  theol¬ 
ogy  to  religion,  from  argument  with  others  to  meditation 
in  himself,  from  factionalism  to  fellowship,  from  tumult 
to  calm,  from  storm  to  serenity,  and  from  passion  to 
peace. 

The  letters  begin  with  the  battle-cry  and  trumpet-blast 
of  Galatians  and  close  with  the  quiet  admonitions  and 
affectionate  endearments  of  II  Timothy.  At  first  Paul 
is  the  aggressive  emancipator  as  he  stands  up  for  his  Gen¬ 
tile  converts  and  dares  to  declare,  “There  is  no  difference 
between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek” ;  then  he  is  the  conciliator 
as  he  harmonizes  parties  and  factions  in  his  churches; 
then  in  Romans  he  is  the  systematizer  of  doctrinal  theol¬ 
ogy;  in  Ephesians  he  is  a  spiritualizer  as  he  penetrates 
and  fills  doctrine  and  church  life  with  the  vital  breath  of 
the  spirit;  in  Colossians  he  is  a  meditative  and  mystic 
philosopher  as  he  deeply  reflects  upon  the  cosmic  Christ 
as  the  immanent  principle  of  the  universe  by  whom  all 
things  consist  and  reaches  conclusions  that  are  profoundly 
akin  to  modern  philosophical  views  of  the  universe;  as  a 
mystic  he  loses  himself  in  the  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God;  he  is  a  philanthropist  in  Philemon  in  which  he 
writes  only  a  few  words  that  yet  put  dynamite  under  the 
institution  of  slavery  and  helped  to  blow  it  out  of  the 
world;  finally  he  is  “Paul  the  aged”  writing  farewell 
words  with  a  fettered  and  weary  hand  in  which  he  de¬ 
clares  that  he  is  ready  to  be  offered  and  is  calmly  waiting 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


97 


for  the  sure  stroke  of  a  Roman  sword.  Thus  the  stream, 
that  at  first  leaped  forth  as  a  raging  mountain  torrent  and 
then  ran  a  swift  course,  at  length  slowed  down  into  a  calm 
current  and  finally  broadened  out  and  silently  mingled  in 
the  immeasurable  sea. 

There  is  one  strange  and  startling  omission  in  these 
letters:  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus.  Not  a  parable  or 
an  utterance  or  a  miracle  or  a  deed  of  Jesus  recorded  in 
the  Gospels,  save  the  glorious  exception  of  his  resurrec¬ 
tion,  appears  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  He  must  have  had 
knowledge  of  these  things  that  are  so  precious  to  us,  but 
he  disregarded  them  as  not  pertaining  to  his  purpose.  The 
human  Jesus  becomes  invisible  in  the  life  of  the  glorified 
Christ.  It  was  the  cross  that  absorbed  the  soul  of  Paul, 
and  the  risen  Christ  that  filled  the  whole  field  of  his  vision. 
Hardly  ever  is  Christ  quoted,  but  his  person  is  adored; 
his  sayings  are  scarcely  mentioned,  but  Christ  himself  is 
all  in  all. 

It  is  because  he  is  so  many-sided  that  men  of  all  theo¬ 
logical  views  and  emotional  temperaments  find  support  in 
Paul.  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant,  Calvinist  and  Ar- 
minian,  conservative  and  liberal,  theologian  and  mystic, 
philosopher  and  poet,  all  lay  claim  to  Paul  and  can  find 
in  his  letters  apt  texts  to  support  their  claims.  Preacher 
and  pioneer,  orator  and  man  of  letters,  logical  thinker 
and  mystical  dreamer,  a  poet  who  could  write  a  lovely 
lyric  that  is  hardly  surpassed  in  all  literature  and  yet  a 
man  of  practical  action  and  daring  adventure  who  could 
write  down  a  catalogue  of  appalling  hardships  (II  Cor. 
11:23-28),  he  poured  his  complex  and  rich  nature  and 
varied  life  into  his  Epistles  so  that  they  are  among  the 
most  precious  treasures  of  the  New  Testament  and  are  the 
most  valuable  and  vital  letters  in  the  literature  of  the 
world. 

We  conclude  our  review  of  Paul’s  Epistles  with  an 
evaluation  of  them  by  Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody  in 
his  recent  volume  on  The  Apostle  Paul  and  the  Modern 
World,  page  126:  “In  short,  the  letters  of  Paul  are  the 
confessions  of  a  great  soul  and  the  counsels  of  a  great 
mind,  revealing  with  the  intimacy  of  passionate  affection 
the  hopes  and  fears,  the  ideas  and  ideals,  which  passing 


98 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


events  conspired  to  suggest.  Liberty,  unity,  spirituality, 
the  bearing  of  each  other’s  burdens,  the  supreme  law  of 
sacrificial  love, — these  essential  graces  of  the  Christian  life, 
traced  in  a  masterly  fashion  to  the  abiding  influence  of 
the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  give  to  the  letters  of  Paul  their 
permanent  place  as  guides  of  religious  experience,  and 
make  them  the  most  undisguised  and  the  most  inspiring 
chapters  of  spiritual  autobiography  in  the  history  of 
literature.” 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  CATHOLIC  EPISTLES  AND  REVELATION 

The  following  seven  Epistles,  Hebrews,  James,  I  and  II 
Peter,  I,  II  and  III  John  and  Jude,  have  from  early  times 
been  designated  “Catholic  Epistles,”  probably  because 
they  are  not  addressed  to  particular  churches  but  are  let¬ 
ters  for  general  circulation,  and  in  this  class  we  shall  in¬ 
clude  Hebrews  as  being  of  the  same  nature. 

These  Epistles  stand  in  contrast  with  Paul’s  letters  in 
that  they  did  not  grow  out  of  special  conditions  in  par¬ 
ticular  churches  or  were  not  addressed  to  individuals,  but 
dealt  with  general  conditions  of  early  Christian  life.  They 
put  emphasis  on  conduct  rather  than  on  creed  and  are 
ethical  rather  than  theological,  although  of  course  doc¬ 
trine  is  interwoven  with  this  ethical  teaching  as  ethical 
teaching  is  interwoven  with  Paul’s  doctrinal  Epistles. 

Hebrews 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  unique  among  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament  in  several  respects.  It  contains  no 
internal  indications  of  its  authorship  and  of  the  time  and 
place  of  its  writing  and  of  the  location  of  the  readers  to 
whom  it  is  addressed.  While  the  Authorized  Version  calls 
it  “The  Epistle  of  Paul  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews,”  yet 
the  Revised  Version  designates  it  “The  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,”  showing  that  the  name  of  Paul  is  not  found 
in  the  earliest  manuscripts.  These  manuscripts  have  as  a 
title  simply  the  words  “To  Hebrews,”  and  it  is  thought 
that  these  were  supplied  by  a  copyist. 

As  to  authorship  it  is  clearly  not  the  work  of  Paul  as 
the  writer  includes  himself  among  those  who  received  the 
gospel  at  second  hand  (2:3),  whereas  Paul  emphatically 
claimed  to  have  it  by  direct  revelation  (Gal.  1:12),  and 
the  whole  method  of  reasoning  and  literary  style  are  dif- 

99 


100 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


ferent  from  Paul’s,  and  this  internal  evidence  is  strongly 
against  his  authorship.  Other  names  that  have  been  sug¬ 
gested  for  the  honor,  such  as  those  of  Barnabas  and 
Apollos,  are  not  supported  by  evidence. 

Uncertain  also  is  the  location  of  the  readers  to  whom  it 
was  addressed.  The  most  probable  and  generally  accepted 
supposition  is  that  they  were  Jewish  Christians  in  Rome; 
and  the  probable  time  of  its  origin  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  the  Temple  services  apparently  were  still  being  ob¬ 
served  (10:1-2),  and  this  would  place  its  writing  before 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple  in  70  A.  D. 

This  Epistle  is  also  unique  in  that  it  sets  out  to  prove  a 
definite  proposition  which  is  logically  maintained  from 
beginning  to  end.  It  comes  nearer  to  being  a  systematic 
treatise  than  any  other  book  in  the  Bible.  Its  proposition 
is  that  the  Old  Dispensation  of  the  Mosaic  Law  is  fulfilled 
and  superceded  by  the  New  Dispensation  of  the  Gospel. 
It  announces  its  theme  in  the  stately  sentence  with  which 
it  opens  (1:1-4)  in  which  it  is  declared  that  God,  who 
had  spoken  in  various  times  and  ways  to  the  fathers  or 
prophets,  has  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his 
Son,  who  is  the  brightness  of  his  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person.  Christ  is  thus  at  once  set  above 
Moses  and  above  angels,  and  presently  the  cross  is  set  above 
the  altar,  and  this  line  of  logic  runs  through  the  great 
argument  as  a  musical  theme  recurs  and  rolls  through  a 
grand  symphony. 

It  was  therefore  probably  addressed  to  Jewish  Chris¬ 
tians  who  were  called  upon  to  make  a  great  sacrifice  and 
undergo  a  profound  shock  and  change  in  passing  from 
Moses  to  Christ,  from  Judaism,  with  all  its  sacred  and 
patriotic  roots  and  associations  of  a  thousand  years,  to 
Christianity,  and  from  the  Temple,  with  its  elaborate  and 
gorgeous  ceremonies,  to  the  simple  worship  of  a  Christian 
church. 

The  tendency  was  strong  among  these  Jewish  Christians 
to  fall  under  the  spell  and  back  into  the  practice  of  Juda¬ 
ism,  and  to  resist  this  tendency  was  the  great  battle  of  the 
early  churches.  Paul  was  a  magnificent  champion  for 
freedom  from  Moses  under  the  Gospel,  and  the  unknown 
writer  of  Hebrews  eloquently  defended  and  contended  for 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


101 


the  same  liberty.  When  it  is  considered  how  hard  it  is 
for  people  with  long  settled  religions  convictions  to  give 
up  established  and  sacrosant  orthodoxy  for  new  forms  of 
truth,  we  may  appreciate  the  hard  struggle  it  cost  these 
Jewish  Christians  to  make  the  transition  from  the  old  to 
the  new.  This  Epistle  is  one  of  the  historic  landmarks  of 
this  change,  an  outstanding  monument  of  this  ancient 
battlefield. 

The  Epistle  proceeds  in  logical  order  from  its  opening 
sentence  from  one  telling  point  to  another,  and  is  written 
in  a  smooth  and  flowing  and  beautiful  literary  style.  In¬ 
terwoven  with  its  logic  at  intervals  are  hortatory  passages 
in  which  practical  applications  of  its  arguments  are  made. 
As  we  read  it  through  we  cannot  but  feel  its  charm  as  well 
as  its  logic,  and  some  critics  think  it  is  the  most  beautiful 
book  in  the  Bible. 

Outline  of  Hebrews: 

I.  The  finality  of  the  Christian  revelation,  1-4. 

II.  Christ  as  the  true  High  Priest,  5-10. 

III.  Eulogy  of  Old  Testament  characters  as  illustrations 

of  faith,  11. 

IV.  Practical  applications  and  exhortations,  12-13. 

James 

The  contents  of  this  general  Epistle  are  moral  teachings 
often  expressed  in  aphoristic  form  after  the  manner  of 
proverbs.  At  times  it  gives  the  impression  of  a  string  of 
pearls  of  wisdom  with  little  inner  connection,  although 
the  string  itself  is  there  as  a  common  tie.  There  is  a  sur¬ 
prising  lack  of  distinctive  Christian  doctrinal  teaching, 
and  Christ  himself,  although  mentioned,  remains  in  the 
background. 

There  is  a  contrast  between  faith  and  works  running 
through  the  Epistle  and  coming  out  into  special  expression 
at  particular  points,  notably  in  2 : 14-26,  and  some  have 
thought  that  the  writer  was  opposing  Paul's  doctrine  of 
salvation  by  faith  and  exalting  works  against  faith.  It  is 
unnecessary,  however,  to  put  this  interpretation  upon  the 
Epistle  and  it  is  plain  enough  that  the  writer  is  empha¬ 
sizing  the  necessity  of  works  as  an  expression  of  living 
faith  and  opposing  a  theoretical  and  unfruitful  or  dead 
faith. 


102 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


As  a  homily  or  treatise  on  practical  Christian  ethics  the 
Epistle  was  greatly  needed  among  the  early  churches  and 
it  is  needed  not  less  today.  It  inculcates  the  doing  of  what 
we  know  and  condemns  profession  without  practice,  creed 
without  character  and  conduct,  faith  without  works,  and 
these  are  ever  vital  points  in  our  Christian  life.  James 
in  his  Epistle  supplements  Paul  in  his  letters,  and  the  two 
together  make  the  full-orbed  Christian  doctrine.  Of  course 
James  also  teaches  the  necessity  of  faith,  and  Paul  teaches 
the  necessity  of  works,  but  each  puts  special  emphasis  on 
the  point  he  has  in  view,  and  the  two  are  not  antagonistic 
but  complimentary  and  at  the  center  are  in  harmony. 

The  author  announces  himself  in  the  first  verse  as  James, 
but  there  were  many  men  of  this  name  in  apostolic  times 
and  in  these  early  churches  and  so  the  name  is  indecisive 
as  to  the  particular  James.  The  traditional  view  has 
been  that  the  writer  was  James  the  brother  of  the  Lord 
and  this  remains  a  possibility.  Yet  there  are  difficulties 
that  embarrass  this  view,  such  as  that  if  the  writer  were 
the  brother  of  the  Lord  would  he  not  have  said  more  about 
the  Lord  Jesus  and  his  teaching  and  works?  Many  schol¬ 
ars  hold  that  the  author  was  some  other  James  living  at  a 
later  time  and  an  unknown  place.  The  authorship  of  the 
letter  is  of  little  importance :  its  contents  remain  the  same 
on  any  theory  of  its  authorship  and  are  of  permanent 
value. 

Outline  of  James: 

I.  Temptations,  1. 

II.  Faults  and  failings,  2-4. 

III.  Admonitions  as  to  riches,  patience,  sickness  and 
prayer,  5. 

I  and  II  Peter 

I  Peter  declares  itself  to  be  a  letter  of  the  Apostle  Peter 
written  from  “Babylon”  (5:13)  which  is  plainly  Rome, 
to  the  “strangers  scattered”  through  Asia  Minor,  or  to 
the  Jewish  Christians  in  that  region.  It  is  written  under 
impending  “trial”  (1:7;  4: 12-19)  which  overshadows  the 
pages  of  the  letter  like  a  storm  cloud,  and  it  is  intended 
to  strengthen  believers  in  faith  and  godly  living  in  those 
perilous  times.  It  breathes  Peter’s  spirit  of  deep  convic¬ 
tion  and  urgency  of  action  and  recalls  his  speeches  in  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


103 


Acts  in  its  quotations  from  the  prophets  (1:16;  2:6). 
Both  the  internal  indications  and  the  early  external  evi¬ 
dence  strongly  sustain  the  Petrine  authorship. 

As  to  its  date,  there  is  ancient  evidence  that  Peter  per¬ 
ished  in  the  first  Roman  persecution  of  Christians  under 
Nero  in  64  A.  D.,  and  if  this  is  a  true  tradition  this  per¬ 
secution  would  be  the  “trial”  that  was  impending  at  the 
time  of  the  writing  of  this  Epistle.  The  next  persecution 
was  under  Domitian  about  90  A.  D.,  and  some  date  the 
Epistle  in  this  period. 

II  Peter  also  purports  to  be  from  the  hand  of  Peter  and 
refers  to  I  Peter  (3:1),  but  it  is  so  different  in  contents 
and  style  that  most  scholars  think  it  was  written  by  a 
later  disciple  of  Peter  and  attributed  to  him  after  the 
literary  practice  of  the  time.  The  Epistle  deals  with  the 
certainty  of  the  Christian  faith,  with  false  teachers  and 
with  the  end  of  the  world.  It  is  notable  as  containing  a 
direct  reference  to  Paul’s  Epistles  (3: 15-16)  in  which  the 
author  found  some  things  “hard  to  be  understood.”  Com¬ 
mentators  have  had  the  same  trouble  with  Paul  to  this 
day. 

Outline  of  I  Peter: 

I.  Salutation  and  thanksgiving,  1 :  1-12. 

II.  Exhortations  to  holiness,  1 :  13-25. 

HI.  Christ  the  chief  corner  stone,  2 : 1-10. 

IV.  Civil  and  domestic  virtues,  2:1-10. 

V.  Coming  trials,  4. 

VI.  Admonitions  to  elders  and  conclusions,  5. 

Outline  of  II  Peter: 

I.  Salutation,  1 :  1-4. 

II.  Christian  graces  enjoined,  1 :  5-15. 

III.  False  teachers,  2. 

VI.  The  end  of  the  world,  3. 

I,  II  and  III  John 

These  three  letters,  two  of  them  mere  notes,  are  all 
anonymous,  but  from  early  times  they  have  been  attributed 
to  the  Apostle  John,  and  there  is  much  in  their  contents 
and  style  that  bears  out  this  authorship.  The  writer  evi¬ 
dently  had  personal  knowledge  of  Christ  (1:1),  the  lit¬ 
erary  style  has  close  affinities  with  that  of  the  Fourth  Gos¬ 
pel,  and  the  characteristic  words  of  that  Gospel,  such  as 
life,  light  and  truth,  are  also  prominent  in  it.  If  the 


104 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


author  is  John  the  apostle  their  date  falls  near  the  end 
of  the  first  Christian  century. 

Their  contents  deal  with  existing  conditions  in  the 
churches.  The  first  Epistle  glows  with  the  love  of  God 
and  it  gives  us  two  notable  definitions  of  God:  “God  is 
light’ ’  (1:5)  and  “God  is  love”  (4:8).  The  second  let¬ 
ter  is  specially  aimed  at  “deceivers”  who  denied  that 
“Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,”  which  denial  was 
probably  the  ancient  heresy  that  Jesus  did  not  have  a 
true  human  body  but  only  a  phantasm  or  appearance  of 
one.  The  third  brief  letter  condemns  the  self-assertion  of 
one  Diotrephes  who  was  swollen  with  conceit  and  was 
troubling  the  church. 

Outline  of  I  J ohn : 

I.  The  incarnation  of  Christ  and  the  duty  of  fellow¬ 
ship  with  him,  1. 

II.  Warnings  against  sin,  2. 

III.  The  love  of  God  and  the  duty  it  enjoins  upon  us,  3. 

IV.  On  trying  the  spirits  and  living  in  the  love  of  God,  4. 

V.  Faith  in  Christ  and  its  fruits,  5. 

Outline  of  II  John: 

I.  Salutation,  1-3. 

II.  Exhortation  to  love,  4-6. 

III.  Warning  against  false  teachers,  7-11. 

IV.  Conclusion,  12-13. 

Outline  of  III  John: 

I.  Salutation,  1. 

II.  Gaius  congratulated  on  his  faithfulness,  2-8. 

III.  The  self-assertion  of  Diotrephes,  9-12. 

IV.  Conclusion,  13-14. 


Jude 

This  little  letter  is  by  “Jude,  the  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  brother  of  J ames,  ’  ’  and  from  the  earliest  times 
the  author  has  been  identified  with  “Judas,”  one  of  the 
brothers  of  Jesus  (Matt.  13:55).  It  is  a  general  letter 
addressed  to  the  “sanctified”  or  Christian  believers.  It 
warns  against  certain  false  teachers  and  urges  faithful¬ 
ness  in  Christian  living.  A  comparison  of  verses  4-16  with 
II  Peter  2  shows  that  the  two  passages  are  so  closely  alike 
that  one  or  the  other  author  has  used  the  other,  and  the 
priority  has  by  most  scholars  been  accorded  to  Jude. 

The  letter  is  unique  among  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


105 


ment  in  that  it  quotes  from  the  Book  of  Enoch  (14),  one 
of  the  apocryphal  books  of  the  Jews,  and  probably  also 
from  the  Assumption  of  Moses  (9),  another  apocryphal 
book. 

Outline  of  Jude: 

I.  Salutation,  1-36. 

II.  False  teachers,  4-16. 

III.  Exhortations  and  doxology,  17-25. 

Revelation 

The  Book  of  Revelation  belongs  to  the  class  of  apoca¬ 
lyptic  literature  that  abounded  among  the  Jews  during  the 
period  extending  from  200  B.  C.  to  100  A.  D.  The  word 
apocalypse  means  “unveiling”  or  “revelation”  and  such 
books  were  intended  to  reveal  truth  under  symbolic  forms 
which  yet  concealed  it  from  hostile  eyes.  Two  of  these 
books  are  incorporated  in  the  Bible,  Daniel  and  Revela¬ 
tion,  the  one  addressed  to  J ews  under  the  terrible  persecu¬ 
tion  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  in  the  second  century  B.  C., 
and  the  other  to  Christians  under  the  Roman  persecution 
of  Domitian  near  the  close  of  the  first  century  A.  D.  The 
messages  had  to  be  conveyed  in  terms  and  figures  that 
would  not  excite  the  intensified  persecution  of  these  ene¬ 
mies  and  yet  would  “unveil”  the  truth  to  persecuted 
believers;  hence  the  apocalyptic  form,  a  kind  of  literary 
camouflage  with  which  the  Jews  were  familiar  and  which 
would  be  plain  to  them. 

This  fact  must  be  kept  steadily  in  view  in  interpreting 
these  books,  or  they  will  become  a  phantasmagoria  in 
which  the  wildest  vagaries  will  run  riot.  They  have 
proven  a  mirage  which  has  lured  countless  commentators 
into  the  pitfalls  of  fanciful  interpretation.  They  have 
always  been  the  “happy  hunting  grounds”  of  religious 
visionaries  and  fanatics. 

When  read  in  the  light  of  this  historical  background 
Revelation  ceases  to  be  a  hopeless  enigma  or  tangle  of 
puzzles  and  becomes  reasonably  clear  in  its  meaning.  It  is 
true  we  are  often  mystified  or  in  doubt  as  to  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  highly  figurative  imagery  employed,  and 
yet  the  general  purpose  may  be  plain. 

The  author  of  the  book  is  generally  accepted  to  he  the 


106 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


same  as  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  and  its  date  is 
placed  near  the  end  of  the  first  century  A.  D. 

Outline  of  the  Kevelation: 

I.  Introduction,  1 :  1-8. 

II.  Messages  to  the  Seven  Churches,  1 :  9-3 :  22. 

III.  Five  visions,  4-16. 

IV.  The  Fall  of  Rome,  17-18. 

V.  The  Coming  of  Christ,  19. 

VI.  The  Final  Judgment,  20. 

VII.  The  New  Heaven  and  the  New  Earth,  21-22 :  9. 

VIII.  Conclusion,  22:  10-21. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  CANON  AND  TRANSMISSION  OF  THE  NEW 

TESTAMENT 

There  are  now  some  general  features  or  facts  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  New  Testament  that  we  may  briefly  consider. 

1.  The  Canon 

The  canon  of  the  Scriptures  means  the  rule  of  faith  or 
the  books  that  came  to  be  included  in  the  Bible  as  inspired 
or  authoritative  Scripture.  The  twenty-seven  books  in 
our  New  Testament  are  only  a  selection  from  a  larger 
number  of  religious  books  produced  in  the  first  and  sec¬ 
ond  centuries  by  Jewish  and  Christian  writers,  and  some 
of  these  extra-canonical  books  not  only  survive  but  are  of 
value  in  the  history  of  early  Christianity. 

Among  these  early  Christian  writings  we  may  specially 
name  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas, 
the  Second  Epistle  of  Clement,  and  the  Didache  or  Teach¬ 
ing  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.  Some  of  these  books  were 
regarded  and  quoted  as  inspired  and  came  near  to  being 
adopted  into  the  canon,  as  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  some 
of  them  are  found  in  early  existing  manuscripts  of  the 
New  Testament. 

The  process  of  sifting  out  the  writings  regarded  as 
genuinely  inspired,  however,  began  early  in  the  second 
century  and  proceeded  slowly  and  through  much  debate 
and  difficulty  and  lingering  doubt  until  it  was  finally 
settled  in  the  fourth  century.  Early  writers,  Clement  of 
Rome  (95  A.  D.),  Ignatius  (115  A.  D.)  and  Polycarp  (115 
A.  D.)  began  to  quote  or  use  words  from  some  of  our  New 
Testament  books.  Justin  Martyr  (150  A.  D.)  was 
acquainted  with  the  idea  of  a  canon  and  “from  his  time 
onwards  no  one  could  doubt  that  the  writings  of  the 

107 


108 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


apostles  were,  for  the  church,  the  primary  authority  for 
the  determination  of  apostolic  doctrine.’ * 

Justin  Martyr  ’s  disciple,  Tatian,  composed  a  Diatessaron 
or  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels,  based  exclusively  on 
our  canonical  Gospels.  At  first  the  Christian  converts 
and  preachers  appealed  only  to  the  Old  Testament  as 
Scripture,  but  presently  in  the  second  century  they  began 
to  appeal  to  the  Gospels  and  then  to  the  Epistles  as  of 
equal  authority  with  the  Old  Testament. 

There  was  much  difference  of  opinion  about  certain 
books.  Opposition  was  strong  against  Hebrews,  James,  II 
Peter,  II  and  III  John  and  Revelation,  and  these  were 
among  the  last  to  receive  general  acceptance.  Divided 
opinion  and  debate  continued  through  the  second  and  third 
centuries,  and  it  was  not  until  the  Synod  of  Carthage  in 
397,  at  which  Augustine  was  present,  that  the  canon  of 
the  New  Testament  as  we  now  have  it  was  finally  settled. 
The  Old  Testament  passed  through  the  same  process  and  a 
longer  period  of  doubt  and  it  was  not  finally  decided  by 
Jewish  authorities  until  about  200  A.  D. 

The  question  is  sometimes  raised  as  to  whether  the 
canon  is  yet  closed  and  as  to  whether  we  do  not  have  the 
right  to  open  it  either  to  take  from  it  or  add  to  it.  Luther 
proposed  to  exclude  James  and  there  are  yet  those  who 
would  exclude  Esther  and  Ecclesiastes.  No  one,  however, 
proposes  to  add  any  other  book,  and  the  question  of  ex¬ 
cluding  any  book  now  in  the  canon  is  not  seriously  raised 
and  is  largely  an  academic  one.  The  Roman  Catholic  Bible 
contains  certain  books  in  the  Old  Testament  not  found  in 
the  Protestant  canon,  but  the  New  Testament  canon  is  the 
same  in  all  communions. 

2.  Manuscripts. 

The  New  Testament  at  first  was  written  by  hand  on 
parchment  or  vellum  usually  of  calfskin  or  on  papyrus 
rolls,  and  this  process  was  slow  and  expensive  and  made 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  scarce  and  costly.  No  autograph 
copy  of  any  New  Testament  writing  survives,  and  the  old¬ 
est  existing  manuscript  of  the  Bible  is  the  Codex  Sinaiti- 
cus  discovered  in  1844  in  a  monastery  at  Mt.  Sinai  and 
now  in  the  Imperial  Library  at  Petrograd.  It  dates  from 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


109 


the  4th  century  and  originally  contained  the  whole  Bible, 
and  it  still  has  the  New  Testament  complete.  Still  earlier 
fragments  of  the  New  Testament  exist,  but  this  is  the  old¬ 
est  complete  copy,  and  probably  it  is  the  most  precious 
book  or  manuscript  in  the  world.  It  has  been  published 
in  fac  simile  and  is  thus  open  to  the  study  of  scholars. 

There  are  altogether  more  than  1,800  manuscripts  of 
parts  or  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament  in  existence,  and 
of  these  5  date  from  the  4th  century,  17  from  the  5th  cen¬ 
tury,  35  from  the  6th  century,  and  so  on  in  increasing 
numbers  to  the  17th  century.  Of  course  the  printing  press 
finally  put  an  end  to  making  manuscript  copies  of  the 
Scriptures.  Many  of  these  manuscripts  are  beautifully 
written  and  ornamented  with  color  and  gilt  work,  and 
some  of  them  are  costly  and  splendid  works  of  art. 

The  comparing  of  these  manuscripts,  especially  the  early 
ones,  has  been  carried  on  with  immense  labor  and  patience 
so  as  to  derive  and  construct  the  most  correct  text.  There 
are  several  hundred  thousand  variations  among  the 
manuscripts,  but  these  are  all  relatively  unimportant  and 
most  of  them  are  quite  trivial.  The  best  text  does  not  con¬ 
sist  of  any  manuscript,  but  is  the  product  of  all  of  them 
as  worked  out  by  the  science  of  textual  criticism. 

The  early  manuscripts  not  only  have  no  chapter  and 
verse  divisions  but  usually  have  no  punctuation  marks 
and  the  words  and  letters  run  on  without  break.  Our 
present  New  Testament  chapters  were  introduced  by 
Cardinal  Caro  in  1238  and  the  verse  divisions  were  made 
by  Robertus  Stephanus  in  1551. 

3.  Translations 

The  Bible  early  passed  through  translation  into  other 
languages,  the  Septuagint  or  Greek  version  of  the  Old 
Testament  being  begun  in  the  third  century,  B.  C.  The 
New  Testament  was  translated  in  the  fourth  century, 
A.  D.,  into  Latin,  Syriac,  Egyptian  and  Armenian.  In 
time  it  was  rendered  into  all  modern  languages  and  can 
now  be  read  in  whole  or  in  part  in  no  fewer  than  seven 
hundred  and  seventy  different  languages  and  dialects. 
Few  are  the  human  beings  on  the  globe,  among  savage 
tribes  or  on  lonely  islands  or  far  corners  of  the  world,  that 


110 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


cannot  have  at  least  some  part  of  the  New  Testament  in 
their  own  tongue. 

The  history  of  the  English  New  Testament  begins  in  the 
8th  century  when  the  Venerable  Bede,  an  eminent  scholar 
and  churchman,  translated  the  first  six  chapters  of  John’s 
Gospel  into  the  vernacular,  but  unfortunately  this  has 
been  lost.  Portions  of  the  Psalms  were  next  translated, 
and  in  the  10th  century  the  Gospels  were  put  into  Anglo- 
Saxon.  Many  translations  of  parts  of  the  New  Testament 
were  made  before  the  first  complete  rendering  of  the  Bible 
into  English  appeared  in  the  14th  century  under  the  name 
of  Wycliffe,  though  whether  he  did  any  part  of  the  work 
or  all  of  it  was  done  by  his  followers  is  uncertain. 

Succeeding  versions  now  appeared,  each  one  striving  to 
improve  on  its  predecessors,  down  to  our  day.  The  ver¬ 
sion  of  William  Tyndale,  “to  whom,”  says  Dr.  Westcott, 
“it  has  been  allowed  more  than  to  any  other  man  to  give 
its  characteristic  shape  to  the  English  Bible,”  appeared 
in  1525.  Coverdale’s  Bible  appeared  in  the  same  year,  the 
Bishops’  Bible  in  1568,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Reims 
and  Douai  version  in  1582.  Our  Authorized  Version,  un¬ 
dertaken  under  the  auspices  of  King  James  I  and  hence 
called  the  King  James’  Version,  was  begun  in  1604  and 
published  in  1611.  The  Revised  Version,  the  joint  prod¬ 
uct  of  English  and  American  scholars,  was  begun  in  1870 
and  the  New  Testament  was  completed  in  1881.  The 
American  Standard  Revision,  issued  in  1895,  incorporates 
the  suggestions  of  the  American  Revisers  which  were  not 
accepted  by  the  British  revisers. 

Several  translations  into  more  modern  English,  aiming 
to  give  the  meaning  of  the  original  in  our  everyday  speech, 
have  appeared,  and  the  most  scholarly  and  probably  the 
best  of  these  is  A  New  Translation  by  Dr.  James  Moffatt. 
The  reading  of  this  translation  gives  one  a  strikingly  fresh 
and  vivid  sense  of  the  meaning  of  the  book.  Our  English 
New  Testament  is  thus  the  product  of  more  than  a  thou¬ 
sand  years  of  scholarship  devoted  to  the  best  rendering  of 
the  inspired  Word  into  our  noble  English  speech.  Each 
successive  version  was  based  upon  all  former  versions,  and 
the  final  product  is  the  ripened  result  of  the  whole  process 
and  growth  and  enrichment  of  ten  centuries  of  study  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


111 


literary  culture.  Our  English  Bible  is  believed  to  be  the 
best  translation  of  the  Scriptures  ever  made,  retaining  as 
few  versions  have  succeeded  in  doing  not  only  the  meaning 
but  the  very  spirit  and  flavor  of  the  original. 

Our  New  Testament  brings  to  us  “words  that  are  spirit 
and  life  ?  ’  ’  These  words  express  the  thoughts  of  the  apos¬ 
tles  and  of  Jesus  himself  and  recreate  them  in  our  minds 
so  as  to  beget  in  us  the  same  spiritual  ideas  and  states  and 
experiences  they  had.  The  whole  New  Testament  is  thus 
passed  into  our  spiritual  blood  and  assimilated  into  our 
spirit  and  speech.  The  life  of  Jesus  is  lived  over  again  for 
us  from  his  birth  through  all  its  scenes  and  sayings  to  its 
glorious  end.  Again  we  hear  the  angels  sing  and  go  with 
the  shepherds  to  Bethlehem,  and  again  we  walk  the  high¬ 
ways  and  byways  of  Palestine  as  they  were  pressed  by  his 
blessed  feet,  and  we  view  his  mighty  works  and  hear  his 
very  words.  We  see  him  steeped  in  splendor  on  the  mount 
of  transfiguration,  witness  the  tragedy  of  the  cross,  expe¬ 
rience  all  the  wonder  and  excitement  of  the  resurrection 
morning  and  gaze  after  him  as  he  ascends  into  heaven. 

John  diffuses  his  mystic  Gospel  in  our  hearts  and  unrolls 
his  grand  apocalyptic  pictures  in  the  gallery  of  our  imagi¬ 
nation.  We  go  with  Paul  to  Corinth  and  Rome  and  look 
over  his  shoulder  as  he  composes  a  profound  theological 
epistle  or  pens  a  brief  note  to  a  friend. 

Our  English  New  Testament  thus  enables  us  to  live  over 
again  the  lives  and  experiences  of  apostles  and  of  Jesus  and 
fashions  us  into  their  likeness.  This  book  pours  their  blood 
into  our  veins.  It  crowds  their  consciousness  into  our 
minds,  even  the  human  consciousness  of  Jesus,  and  thus 
we  live,  and  yet  not  we,  but  Christ  liveth  in  us. 

This  is  why  we  should  ever  study,  mark  and  meditate 
upon  it,  and  thus  dissolve  it  in  our  hearts  that  it  may  reap¬ 
pear  in  the  strength  and  fruitfulness,  the  beauty  and  the 
blessedness  of  our  Christian  life. 


PAET  III 

THE  LIFE  OF  JESUS 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

The  centra*  Fact  of  the  New  Testament  is  a  supreme 
Person.  Persons  are  the  significant  and  dominant  facts 
and  forces  of  the  world.  Great  men  are  the  teachers  and 
leaders  of  mankind,  the  creators  of  civilization,  the  proph¬ 
ets  and  apostles  that  dream  dreams  that  shape  the  things 
that  are  yet  to  be.  They  are  the  path-breakers  and  road- 
builders  of  the  world.  They  are  the  mountain  ranges  and 
peaks  that  lift  the  level  of  the  ages  and  determine  the  di¬ 
rections  of  the  winds  and  rivers  and  carve  the  continents 
of  history. 

History  is  largely  the  biographies  of  great  men  in  whom 
were  concentrated  the  ideas  and  energies  that  controlled 
countless  multitudes  of  human  beings  through  a  long  suc¬ 
cession  of  generations.  One  masterful  man  with  great 
creative  idea  and  compelling  will  may  mold  millions  and 
put  a  spell  upon  far  centuries. 

It  is  the  power  of  personality  that  makes  the  great  states¬ 
man,  general,  orator,  thinker,  writer,  or  leader  in  any 
field.  It  was  by  the  impact  of  personality  that  Demosthe¬ 
nes  spoke  in  Athens  and  his  voice  sent  Asiatic  hordes  stag¬ 
gering  back  in  confusion  from  the  shores  of  Greece,  Cae¬ 
sar  mastered  Rome,  Napoleon  dominated  Europe,  and  Lin¬ 
coln  liberated  a  fettered  race.  What  would  the  Hebrew 
people  have  been  without  Abraham,  or  the  Israelites  with¬ 
out  Moses,  or  primitive  Christianity  without  Paul,  or  the 
American  colonies  without  Washington?  Could  fifteen  or 
twenty  of  the  topmost  names  be  blotted  from  the  roll  of 
history  in  what  a  poor  and  pitiful  world  might  we  be  liv¬ 
ing  today? 

On  this  principle,  who  can  calculate  the  infinite  loss  and 
lowering  of  all  the  levels  of  the  world  were  Christ  stricken 

115 


116 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


from  the  calendar  of  the  centuries !  All  the  ancient  world, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  a  background  and  preparation  for 
his  coming,  all  the  preceding  centuries  gravitated  and  con¬ 
verged  towards  his  birth,  and  all  the  succeeding  Christian 
events  have  flowed  from  him  as  a  stream  from  its  fountain. 

Christendom  is  Christ  writ  large.  It  dates  its  calendar 
from  his  advent  and  organizes  itself  around  him  as  its  cen¬ 
ter.  The  Christian  centuries  are  his  lengthened  shadow. 
Our  modern  world  bears  his  image  and  superscription. 

It  is  sadly  true  that  the  image  is  yet  dim  and  blurred 
and  at  points  scarcely  discernible,  but  it  is  slowly  being 
stamped  upon  our  civilization.  There  are  yet  deep  shad¬ 
ows  and  frightful  blots  even  on  Christendom,  but  the  light 
is  appreciably  dawning  on  a  Christian  day.  More  and 
more  the  world  is  weighing  its  worths  in  his  balances,  test¬ 
ing  its  principles  by  his  teachings,  and  deciding  its  ques¬ 
tions  by  his  standards. 

Christ  stands  in  the  New  Testament  as  a  dynamic  Per¬ 
son  who  cannot  be  circumscribed  within  human  limitations 
and  explained  in  purely  human  terms.  He  is  human  yet 
also  divine,  exemplifying  in  the  most  perfect  and  beauti¬ 
ful  ways  our  common  humanity  and  yet  overstepping  all 
our  human  boundaries  and  manifesting  himself  as  the  Son 
of  God  and  Saviour  of  the  world. 

We  have  traced  the  ancient  background  that  prepared 
for  his  coming  and  examined  the  books  that  contain  the 
records  of  his  life  and  work,  and  now  we  shall  look  at  him 
more  directly  and  endeavor  to  construct  a  portrait  out  of 
these  materials  that  we  may  hope  will  bring  Christ  some¬ 
what  nearer  and  make  him  more  real  to  us. 

Space  will  permit  only  an  outline  sketch  that  will  pre¬ 
sent  only  the  chief  scenes  and  sayings  in  this  wonderful 
life.  An  endeavor  will  be  made,  however,  not  to  produce 
a  narrative  of  bare  facts,  but  to  impart  to  the  picture  some 
color  and  charm  that  will  make  it  an  attractive  reality  and 
cause  Jesus  to  stand  before  us  as  a  living  and  present  per¬ 
sonality.  Narrative  and  description  will  be  accompanied 
and  illuminated  with  some  interpretation  and  application, 
and  the  selected  scenes  and  sayings  will  follow  and  be 
fitted  into  the  Outline  of  Events  in  the  Life  of  Jesus 
already  adopted  in  our  treatment  for  the  Gospels. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  THIRTY  SILENT  YEARS 

The  first  word  in  the  life  of  J esus  is  silence.  All  human 
life  begins  in  the  womb  of  secrecy  and  then  emerges  into 
the  open  and  slowly  proceeds  through  long  preparation 
into  full  development  and  activity.  The  tree  sinks  itself 
deep  into  soil  and  rock,  and  all  great  souls  hide  their  roots 
in  solitude  and  silence  and  patiently  grow  in  secret  before 
they  come  forth  strong  and  skilled  to  do  their  work. 

This  private  preparation  may  be  long  compared  with  the 
period  of  public  service.  It  may  take  the  artist  years  to 
acquire  the  skill  that  can  execute  a  masterpiece  in  a  few 
days  or  weeks,  as  the  meteor  gathers  momentum  through 
millions  of  invisible  miles  for  one  swift  flash  of  splendor. 
Jesus  took  thirty  years  of  preparation  for  just  three  years 
of  work.  These  silent  years  may  seem  a  great  price  to  pay 
for  such  a  brief  ministry,  but  it  was  because  he  took  time 
in  preparation  and  got  so  thoroughly  ready  that  he  could 
accomplish  his  mission  in  so  short  a  period  of  activity. 

1.  The  Genealogy  of  Jesus 
John  1:1-4;  Matthew  1:1-17;  Luke  3:23-38 

Biography  begins  before  birth.  Heredity  runs  its  roots 
back  through  many  generations  and  even  the  entire  race, 
and  a  complete  biography  of  any  life  would  open  in  Eden. 
Every  line  of  study  leads  to  remote  origins,  and  the  su¬ 
preme  problem  of  philosophy  is  to  get  back  to  the  First 
Cause.  The  Bible  antedates  all  temporal  origins  in  its 
sublime  declaration,  “In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth.* ’ 

John  opens  his  biography  of  Jesus  in  eternity.  “In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God.**  Jesus  himself  had  an  eternal  con- 

117 


118 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


sciousness,  declaring,  “ Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.”  This 
was  the  true  origin  of  Christ,  and  here  we  must  leave  this 
mystery. 

Matthew  and  Luke  give  the  human  genealogies  of  Jesus, 
Matthew  beginning  with  Abraham  and  ending  with  Jesus, 
and  Luke  reversing  this  order  starts  with  Jesus  and  runs 
back  to  Adam  and  up  to  God.  The  two  lists  are  different 
and  this  has  always  given  rise  to  much  discussion  and  dif¬ 
ference  of  view.  Various  theories  have  been  advanced  to 
explain  this  fact.  The  most  generally  accepted  explana¬ 
tion  is  that  Matthew  gives  the  genealogy  of  Joseph,  and 
Luke  gives  that  of  Mary.  The  question  is  a  complicated 
one  but  it  is  not  of  great  importance,  and  our  space  will 
not  permit  even  an  explanation  of  these  theories.  A  com¬ 
pact  and  clear  discussion  of  the  problem  will  be  found  in 
Kobertson’s  recent  Harmony  of  the  Gospels ,  pp.  255-262. 

The  important  thing  about  these  genealogies  is  that  they 
show  that  Jesus  was  of  true  human  descent  with  ancestral 
roots  running  back  to  Abraham  and  Adam  and  up  to  God. 
They  are  thus  a  suggested  sketch  of  a  complete  human 
heredity  rooted  in  our  entire  race.  Jesus  was  bone  of 
our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh.  He  drew  his  blood  out  of 
the  veins  of  humanity  and  had  tiny  drops  that  descended 
into  him  from  the  most  ancient  springs  of  our  race,  even 
from  Adam  himself. 

This  true  human  kinship  was  a  necessary  part  of  his 
equipment  for  his  mission  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  It 
enabled  him  to  identify  himself  with  us  so  as  to  know  us 
and  sympathize  with  us,  and  it  enables  us  to  know  and 
enter  into  intimate  fellowship  with  him.  This  humanity 
of  Jesus  does  not  exclude  or  obscure  his  divinity  but  is  the 
human  means  by  and  in  which  the  glory  of  his  divine  na¬ 
ture  is  manifested. 

2.  A  Holy  Mystery  Kevealed 
Matthew  1 :18-23 ;  Luke  1 :26-38 

As  the  opening  acts  of  a  drama  shift  rapidly  from  point 
to  point,  so  the  early  scenes  of  this  story  occur  in  quick 
succession  at  widely  separated  places.  Angels  seem  to  have 
been  swiftly  flitting  up  and  down  through  Judea  and  Gal¬ 
ilee,  bearing  messages  to  the  chief  characters  in  the  open- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


119 


mg  scenes  of  redemption.  The  whole  land  was  alive  with 
the  divine  presence,  and  Jerusalem  and  Nazareth  and  Beth¬ 
lehem  were  luminous  points  that  attracted  the  celestial 
visitants. 

Announcement  was  made  in  Jerusalem  to  Zacharias  and 
Elizabeth  of  the  coming  birth  of  John  the  Baptist  as  the 
forerunner  of  Jesus,  and  the  next  announcement  was  made 
to  the  Virgin  Mary.  Nothing  is  known  of  her  family,  but 
no  queen  or  empress  born  to  royal  power  and  splendor,  no 
woman  of  genius  crowned  with  fame,  was  ever  so  highly 
honored  as  this  Jewish  peasant  girl.  “Hail,  thou  that  art 
highly  favored,  the  Lord  is  with  thee;  blessed  art  thou 
among  women”  (Luke  1:28).  She  was  picked  out  of  the 
countless  millions  of  her  human  kind  for  this  transcendent 
distinction  that  has  made  her  conspicuous  through  all  suc¬ 
ceeding  ages. 

This  strange  announcement  troubled  the  simple  wonder¬ 
ing  girl,  and  she  cast  about  in  her  mind  what  this  manner 
of  salutation  meant.  Fear  shadowed  all  these  angelic  an¬ 
nouncements.  The  angel  quieted  the  troubled  maiden  with 
the  assurance  that  she  had  found  favor  with  God.  “And 
behold,  thou  shalt  conceive  in  thy  womb,  and  bring  forth  a 
son,  and  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus.”  The  virgin  was  now 
thrown  into  a  new  and  deeper  perplexity.  “How  shall 
this  be?”  she  exclaimed,  “seeing  I  know  not  a  man.” 
Then  the  angel  revealed  the  great  mystery;  “The  Holy 
Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest 
shall  overshadow  thee :  therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which 
shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God.” 

This  initial  miracle  of  the  gospel  story  is  definitely  de¬ 
clared  in  the  Gospels  and  has  on  it  inimitable  marks  of 
truth  and  none  of  the  marks  of  fiction.  It  is  a  private  fact, 
and  Matthew  tells  it  as  it  must  have  been  known  to  and 
have  come  from  Joseph,  and  Luke  as  it  must  have  been 
known  to  Mary.  It  is  told  with  matchless  modesty  and 
artlessness  and  the  reader  feels  that  it  could  not  have  been 
invented. 

It  is  not  an  isolated  and  irrational  wonder,  but  an  har¬ 
monious  and  logical  part  of  the  system  of  redemption.  It 
is  congruous  with  the  preexistence  of  Jesus  and  with  his 
incarnation  of  God  and  his  sinless  humanity.  The  Son  of 


120 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


God  was  separated  from  ordinary  men  both  in  his  en¬ 
trance  into  and  in  his  exit  from  this  world.  We  accept 
this  holy  mystery  and  believe  that  the  birth  of  Jesus  was 
unique  and  ushered  a  new  Man,  even  the  Son  of  God,  into 
the  world. 


3.  The  Birth  in  Bethlehem 
Matthew  1 :24-25 ;  Luke  2  :l-7 

Caesar  Augustus,  master  of  the  world,  probably  between 
the  months  of  December  and  March,  5-4,  B.  C.,  issued  a 
decree  that  a  census  should  be  taken  of  the  empire  that  he 
might  know  its  resources  and  reap  from  it  a  rich  harvest 
of  taxes,  a  decree  that  set  all  the  world  in  commotion. 

In  the  town  of  Nazareth  in  the  north  of  Palestine  lived 
Joseph,  a  carpenter,  and  Mary,  his  espoused  wife,  who 
though  a  virgin  was  great  with  child,  having  been  over¬ 
shadowed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  mystery  revealed  to 
her  and  her  betrothed  husband.  They  were  both  descended 
from  the  line  of  David,  and  therefore,  in  accordance  with 
the  law  that  they  be  enrolled  at  their  ancestral  seat,  to 
Bethlehem  they  must  go. 

Bethlehem  is  six  miles  south  of  Jerusalem  on  the  crown 
of  a  steep  ledge  of  rock  or  spur  of  the  mountain  ridge, 
jutting  out  to  the  east  from  the  central  range.  Up  this 
rocky  road  climbed  the  humble  carpenter  and  his  wife 
and  passed  through  the  gate  into  the  village.  When  they 
came  to  the  inn,  it  was  already  crowded  with  visitors 
driven  thither  by  the  decree  that  had  stirred  all  Palestine 
and  started  many  families  to  their  ancestral  seats.  In  con¬ 
nection  with  such  an  inn,  usually  the  central  space  of  its 
square  inclosure,  but  probably  in  this  case  a  cave  in  the 
limestone  rock,  was  a  stable  or  place  for  the  horses  and. 
camels  and  cattle  of  the  guests.  Among  these  Oriental 
people  it  was  and  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  travelers  to 
make  a  bed  of  straw  and  spend  the  night  in  this  place. 

In  this  stable,  probably  in  the  very  cave  over  which  now 
stands  the  Church  of  the  Nativity,  Mary  and  Joseph  found 
lodging  for  the  night.  It  was  not  a  mark  of  incivility  on 
the  part  of  the  inn  or  of  poverty  on  their  part  for  them  to 
do  this,  and  yet  what  a  glory  that  inn  missed  by  not  having 
room  for  these  visitors  that  night ! 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


121 


In  that  cave  Mary  brought  forth  her  first-born  son ;  and 
as  there  was  no  woman’s  hand  there  to  minister  for  her, 
she  herself  wrapped  the  babe  in  swaddling  clothes ;  and  as 
there  was  no  other  cradle  to  receive  it  she  laid  the  child 
in  the  trough  from  which  the  camels  were  fed. 

This  is  all  we  know  of  what  took  place  in  that  cave  on 
that  memorable  night  from  which  the  Christian  world  now 
dates  its  calendar.  The  apocryphal  Gospels,  legends  that 
afterwards  grew  up,  fill  the  chamber  with  supernal  light 
so  that  visitors  had  to  shade  their  eyes  from  the  splendor 
of  the  child ;  and  the  painters  portray  the  holy  child  and 
mother  with  halos  of  glory  around  their  heads.  But  all 
this  is  imagination  and  myth.  Jesus  was  born  as  other 
children  are  born  and  looked  just  like  a  human  child.  No 
one  seeing  him  could  have  guessed  that  a  unique  birth  had 
brought  a  divine  Man  into  the  world. 

No  spectacular  display  attended  his  birth  such  as  cele¬ 
brated  the  birth  of  a  Caesar.  Jesus  stole  into  the  world 
quietly  in  human  form  and  garb,  and  thereby  he  identi¬ 
fied  himself  with  our  human  kind  so  that  he  could  knit 
himself  into  all  our  human  needs  and  relations  and  truly 
be  the  Son  of  Man  and  Saviour  of  the  world. 

4.  Angels  and  Shepherds.  Luke  2 :  8-20 

The  Christ-child  was  born,  and  now  the  problem  was  to 
get  the  wonderful  news  out  into  the  world.  An  angel 
came  from  heaven  to  proclaim  the  epochal  event  to  earth. 
Where  shall  he  go  and  begin,  what  human  ears  shall  first 
have  the  privilege  of  hearing  the  glad  tidings?  Let  the 
angel  go  to  Jerusalem,  we  would  have  said,  and  call  upon 
the  high  priest  and  first  take  him  into  his  confidence,  and 
then  let  him  go  to  the  temple  and  stand  amidst  the  splen¬ 
dors  of  that  holy  sanctuary  and  announce  to  the  assembled 
priests  and  scribes  that  prophecy  had  been  fulfilled  and 
their  long-expected  Messiah  had  come.  Shall  not  some  re¬ 
spect  be  paid  to  official  places  and  persons?  Has  not  God 
ordained  priests  and  presbyters  through  whom  he  dis¬ 
penses  his  grace  and  administers  his  kingdom  ? 

Yet  history  witnesses  that  at  times  few  men  stand  in 
God’s  way  more  than  ecclesiastics.  They  are  rarely  the 
men  that  earliest  hear  a  new  message;  God  must  usually 


122 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


tell  it  to  some  one  else  first.  One  of  the  most  startling 
things  in  the  Bible  is  the  fact  that  the  announcement  of  the 
birth  of  Christ  was  made,  not  to  priests,  but  to  shepherds, 
and  the  gospel  was  first  preached,  not  in  a  temple  or 
church,  but  in  a  pasture  field  where  there  were  more  sheep 
than  men  to  hear.  What  a  rebuke  is  this  to  our  ecclesias¬ 
tical  pretension  and  pride!  God  can  easily  dispense  with 
us  and  may  pass  us  by  and  speak  to  humbler  souls.  The 
great  people  up  in  the  temple  have  no  monopoly  of  his 
grace  and  it  may  break  out  in  some  wholly  unexpected 
place. 

On  the  night  of  the  Nativity  the  shepherds  were  in  the 
field  keeping  watch  over  their  flocks,  for  those  faithfully 
engaged  in  the  lowliest  duties  may  receive  a  splendid  vis¬ 
itation  from  heaven.  The  skies  were  as  serene  and  the 
stars  burned  as  calm  as  in  all  the  past.  The  shepherds 
were  as  unconscious  of  any  coming  wonder  as  the  sleeping 
sheep  that  lay  like  drifted  snow  on  the  ridges.  Yet  the 
heavens  were  strained  tense  with  expectation  and  were  on 
the  point  of  being  shattered  into  song. 

Flocks  of  angels  were  flying  downward  from  the  stars, 
and  as  their  white  wfings  struck  earth’s  atmosphere  they 
kindled  it  into  radiance  with  heavenly  glory,  and  from  the 
gallery  of  the  skies  they  chanted  their  song,  accompanied, 
as  the  poets  and  painters  have  imagined,  with  all  the 
golden  harps  and  deep-toned  organ  pipes  of  the  celestial 
choir. 

An  angel  voice  sang  the  solo,  “Behold,  I  bring  you  good 
tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all  people:  for  there 
is  born  to  you  this  day  in  the  city  of  David  a  Saviour, 
which  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto 
you ;  Ye  shall  find  the  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes, 
and  lying  in  a  manger.”  The  solo  was  followed  by  the 
chorus,  ‘  ‘  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  among  men.” 

Glory  to  God  and  human  good  will  are  the  keynotes  of 
this  song.  They  are  the  fundamental  notes  of  the  gospel 
and  are  related  as  cause  and  effect.  Divine  glory  is  the 
sun  shining  in  the  heavens,  and  human  good  will  is  a  gar¬ 
den  and  orchard  all  abloom  with  flowers  and  laden  with 
fruit.  As  the  glory  of  the  sun  is  transformed  into  rosy 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


123 


buds  and  sweet  fruit,  so  is  the  glory  of  God  transformed 
into  human  good  will.  These  are  the  two  sides  of  the 
same  gospel,  the  two  parts  of  the  same  song.  They  cannot 
be  separated  and  must  go  together;  in  glorifying  God  we 
make  peace  among  men,  and  in  making  peace  among  men 
we  glorify  God.  This  is  the  social  gospel  that  will  save 
the  world. 

Did  these  shepherds  let  the  song  vanish  into  the  silence 
of  oblivion  with  the  last  echo  and  fall  back  into  the  old 
dull  routine?  No,  they  did  not  let  it  lapse.  “Let  us  now 
go,”  they  said,  “even  unto  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing 
which  is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  known 
unto  us.”  They  translated  vision  into  action  and  pres¬ 
ently  were  climbing  the  rocky  slope  to  Bethlehem  and 
“found  both  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the  babe  lying  in  the 
manger.  ’  ’ 

“Lying  in  a  manger” — so  humble  and  lowly  was  the 
point  at  which  the  Son  of  God  entered  the  world.  He  was 
not  wrapped  in  a  purple  robe  and  laid  on  a  downy  couch 
but  was  born  in.  a  stable  and  shepherds  were  his  first  vis¬ 
itors.  He  came  as  one  of  the  common  people  and  to  this 
day  is  their  representative.  No  one  can  ever  raise  the 
level  of  society  by  winning  over  the  rich  and  the  great. 
Whoever  would  lift  the  world  must  get  his  lever  under  its 
foundation  stones.  Taking  hold  of  the  carved  cornice  will 
only  tear  the  roof  off,  but  raising  the  lowest  stone  will  also 
push  up  the  spire’s  gilded  point. 

5.  Worshipping  Wise  Men.  Matthew  2 :1-12 

The  birth  of  Jesus  created  a  new  center  for  the  world 
and  set  heaven  and  earth  revolving  around  his  cradle.  All 
things  began  to  gravitate  towards  him  as  by  a  new  and 
more  powerful  attraction.  Angels  sang,  shepherds  won¬ 
dered,  a  new  star  glittered  upon  the  blazing  curtain  of 
the  night,  and  wise  men  came  from  afar  to  worship  him. 
These  wise  men  were  Persian  priests,  scholars,  scientists, 
astrologers,  students  of  the  stars.  Rumors  of  a  coming 
King  or  Saviour  were  widespread  in  the  ancient  world  and 
doubtless  had  reached  these  worshipers  of  the  sun  to 
whom  the  stars  were  embodiments  of  deity.  They  were 
obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  and  across  long  stretches 


124 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


of  desert  sand  they  came  and  appeared  in  Jerusalem  with 
their  inquiry  concerning  the  newborn  King  of  the  Jews. 

They  were  therefore  broad-minded  men  whose  horizon 
was  wider  than  their  own  deserts,  or  they  never  would 
have  overleaped  their  national  piety  and  patriotism  and 
prejudice  into  search  and  reverence  for  a  Jewish  King. 
There  was  no  war  between  the  science  and  the  theology  of 
these  wise  men.  Their  science  did  not  kill  their  religion,  and 
their  religion  did  not  strangle  their  science.  The  stars, 
according  to  their  simple-minded  way  of  thinking,  did  not 
crowd  God  out  of  his  universe.  Knowledge  and  reverence 
made  one  music  in  their  hearts  as  both  their  science  and 
their  faith  grew  from  more  to  more. 

In  due  time  “they  came  into  the  house  and  saw  the 
young  child  with  Mary  his  mother ;  and  they  fell  down  and 
worshiped  him;  and  opening  their  treasures  they  offered 
unto  him  gifts,  gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh.’ ’  Is 
there  anything  more  beautiful  in  the  Bible,  or  in  all  lit¬ 
erature?  The  imagination  of  painter  or  poet  may  well 
kindle  at  the  scene.  There  are  the  wondering  mother,  the 
worshiping  wise  men  bowing  down,  the  shining  fragrant 
gifts,  and  in  the  midst  as  the  center  and  glory  of  it  all  the 
young  Child.  This  Child,  which  even  in  its  infancy  sub¬ 
ordinates  mother  and  wise  men  and  gold  to  itself,  is  indeed 
a  King. 

These  Persian  scholars  were  forerunners  of  other  wise 
men  going  to  Bethlehem.  Through  all  the  Christian  cen¬ 
turies  men  of  genius  have  been  laying  their  most  precious 
gifts  at  the  feet  of  Christ.  Columbus  had  no  sooner  set 
foot  on  a  new  shore  than  he  named  it  San  Salvador,  Holy 
Saviour,  and  thus  he  laid  his  great  discovery,  America,  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus.  Leonardo  da  Vinci  swept  the  golden 
goblets  from  the  table  of  his  “Last  Supper”  because  he 
feared  their  splendor  would  distract  attention  from  and 
dim  the  glory  of  the  Master  himself.  The  hand  that 
rounded  St.  Peter’s  dome  reared  it  in  adoration  of  Christ, 
and  Raphael  in  painting  the  “Transfiguration”  laid  his 
masterpiece  at  the  feet  of  this  Child.  Mozart  there  laid 
his  symphonies,  and  Beethoven  the  works  of  his  colossal 
genius.  Shakespeare,  “with  the  best  brain  in  six  thou¬ 
sand  years,”  who  has  poured  the  many-colored  splendors 


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of  his  imagination  over  all  onr  life,  wrote  in  his  will:  “I 
commend  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  God  my  Creator,  hop¬ 
ing  and  absurdly  believing,  through  the  only  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ  my  Saviour,  to  be  made  partaker  of  life  ever¬ 
lasting.’  ’  Tennyson  begins  his  In  Memoriam,  in  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  many  the  superbest  literary  blossom  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century,  with  the  invocation,  “  Strong  Son  of  God, 
Immortal  Love.”  The  gold  of  these  wise  men  was  only 
the  first  gleam  of  the  shining  heaps  of  wealth  and  of  the 
most  precious  worths  of  the  world  that  his  followers  are 
now  piling  on  the  altar  of  his  service. 

Every  generation  sends  a  more  numerous  company  to 
Bethlehem.  With  every  century  worshipers  arrive  from 
more  distant  lands.  From  every  quarter  of  the  globe  paths 
now  run  to  the  manger  of  this  Child,  worn  deep  by  mil¬ 
lions  of  feet.  The  nations  are  beginning  to  come.  By  and 
by  these  converging  roads  will  be  crowded  and  the  ends 
of  the  earth  will  bring  their  gold  and  their  most  fragrant 
gifts  and  shall  lay  them  at  his  feet. 

To  escape  the  murderous  fury,  born  of  fear  of  a  rival,  of 
Herod,  who  sent  soldiers  to  thrust  a  sword  through  every 
cradle  in  Bethlehem,  Mary  and  Joseph  fled  with  the  Child 
by  way  of  Egypt  and  returned  to  Nazareth. 

6.  The  Childhood  at  Nazareth 
Matthew  2:23;  Luke  2 : 39-52 

Two  or  three  brief  descriptive  verses  and  one  anecdote 
tell  us  all  we  know  of  the  childhood  of  Jesus.  We  would 
like  to  know  more ;  for  we  are  interested  in  the  childhood 
of  great  men.  We  are  curious  to  see  whether  the  stamp 
of  greatness  was  on  them  from  the  beginning,  or  whether 
at  first  they  were  indistinguishable  from  other  children. 

We  wonder  what  may  have  been  the  boyhood  of  Jesus 
and  long  for  a  peep  behind  the  veil.  As  usual  the  apoc¬ 
ryphal  gospels  are  most  voluble  where  the  inspired  Gospels 
are  most  reticent.  They  fill  the  childhood  of  Jesus  with 
marvels  and  miracles  that  are  irrational  and  silly.  The 
broad  difference  between  the  books  that  were  put  in  and 
the  books  that  were  kept  out  of  the  New  Testament  is  one 
of  the  wonders  and  proofs  of  inspiration. 


126 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


But  while  the  Gospels  maintain  an  impressive  silence, 
yet  we  know  more  than  they  tell  ns  and  have  considerable 
general  knowledge  of  the  childhood  of  Jesns.  We  know 
that  he  was  a  true  human  child  and  grew  up  through  the 
normal  stages  and  experiences  of  our  human  life.  He 
nestled  and  cooed  and  smiled  in  his  mother’s  arms.  His 
“baby  hand  was  pressed  against  the  circle  of  the  breast,” 
and  he  was  lulled  to  sleep  with  a  cradle  song.  He  took 
his  first  tottering  steps  and  invented  his  first  childish 
words.  He  played  in  his  father ’s  carpenter  shop  and  went 
to  the  village  school.  We  know  and  use  one  of  his  school¬ 
books,  for  he  studied  the  Old  Testament  in  the  synagogue 
which  was  the  common  school  of  the  town,  where  attend¬ 
ance  was  compulsory.  There  were  brothers  in  the  home, 
and  he  grew  up  with  them.  He  associated  with  the  boys 
of  Nazareth  and  played  with  them  on  the  streets. 

He  must  have  walked  the  fields  and  climbed  the  hills 
around  Nazareth  and  observed  the  beauty  of  flower  and 
forest.  From  the  hilltops  he  could  see  far  and  look  down 
on  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  steeped  in  historic  associations, 
and  over  to  Carmel,  and  if  he  went  far  enough  he  could 
catch  glimpses  of  snow-covered  Hermon  and  sparkling 
Lake  Galilee  and  the  plunging,  foaming  Jordan  and  even 
of  the  blue  Mediterranean. 

He  was  a  keen  observer  and  a  lover  of  nature  and  com¬ 
muned  with  it  and  saturated  his  soul  with  its  mystic  life. 
He  did  not  for  the  first  time  observe  the  birds  circling  in 
the  air  and  the  loveliness  of  the  lily  when  he  used  them  as 
illustrations  in  his  sermons,  but  all  these  nature  refer¬ 
ences  were  reminiscences  of  his  childhood  life  in  Naz¬ 
areth. 

So  also  his  knowledge  of  human  nature  that  comes  out 
so  richly  in  his  parables  and  teachings  came  out  of  his 
childhood  knowledge,  the  unconscious  education  he  picked 
up  in  the  homes  and  streets  of  the  village.  He  had  seen 
his  mother  mixing  dough  or  a  neighboring  woman  sweep¬ 
ing  her  house  in  search  of  a  lost  coin  before  these  incidents 
crept  into  his  sermons  as  homely  illustrations  that  made 
the  truth  picturesque  and  vivid. 

In  fact  the  whole  childhood  of  Jesus  was  woven  into  his 
public  ministry  and  can  be  read  between  the  lines.  His 


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127 


language  was  spun  of  the  homely  speech  of  rural  life  and 
all  that  he  said  and  did  ran  back  to  the  home  and  school 
and  streets  and  hillsides  of  Nazareth. 

We  draw  the  line  at  any  wrong  act  or  thought.  He  was 
human,  yet  he  was  sinless.  But  he  was  not  a  grown-up 
boy,  such  as  we  used  to  find  in  the  Sunday-school  books, 
old  beyond  his  years,  morbidly  self-conscious  and  unnat¬ 
urally  pious ;  but  he  was  a  genuine  boy,  artless,  inquiring, 
spirited,  with  his  whole  nature  in  free  and  healthy  play. 
The  very  charm  of  his  boyhood  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  was 
a  boy  and  not  something  else. 

The  single  recorded  incident  in  the  boyhood  of  Jesus  is 
a  “solitary  floweret  out  of  the  wonderful  enclosed  garden 
of  thirty  years.’ *  It  occurred  when  he  was  twelve  years 
of  age.  This  was  a  critical  age  and  turning  point  in  the 
life  of  the  Jewish  boy.  At  this  age  he  was  obliged  to 
learn  a  trade  for  his  own  support;  he  began  to  wear  the 
phylacteries;  and  he  became  “a  son  of  the  law”  and  was 
in  some  degree  released  from  parental  control.  At  this 
age  the  Jewish  boy  began  to  act  upon  his  own  responsi¬ 
bility  and  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  this  fact  throws 
light  upon  this  incident. 

Every  year  the  parents  of  Jesus  went  to  Jerusalem  to 
the  feast  of  the  Passover,  the  great  religious  festival  of 
the  Jews,  and  on  this  occasion  Jesus  went  with  them. 
Probably  for  the  first  time  he  stepped  out  of  the  seclusion 
of  Nazareth  into  the  publicity  of  the  metropolis,  and  it 
must  have  been  with  emotions  of  deep  wonder  and  rever¬ 
ence  that  he  entered  the  holy  city  and  witnessed  its  scenes 
and  shared  in  the  services  of  the  temple.  He  had  a  boy’s 
interest  and  delight  in  the  sights  of  the  city,  but  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  interest  for  him  was  his  Father’s  house. 

While  at  the  feast  the  boy  became  separated  from  his 
parents,  and  they  started  home  without  him,  supposing 
that  he  was  in  the  caravan  with  friends — a  not  unlikely  or 
unusual  occurrence.  On  the  third  day,  becoming  anxious 
about  him,  they  returned  and  found  him  in  the  temple  in 
the  midst  of  the  rabbis,  hearing  them  and  asking  them 
questions  and  displaying  such  wisdom  that  all  were  aston¬ 
ished. 

This  scene  in  the  boyhood  of  Jesus  has  sometimes  been 


128 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


despoiled  of  its  truth  and  beauty  by  making  it  out  that 
he  was  instructing  these  rabbis  and  showing  off  his  supe¬ 
rior  wisdom.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  hearing  them  and 
asking  them  questions;  he  was  not  instructor  but  scholar. 
Jesus  never  played  the  part  of  a  smart  boy  but  was  mod¬ 
est  and  teachable  and  kept  his  place  in  the  presence  of 
superiors,  and  it  was  his  rare  spirit  of  wisdom  and  candor 
that  elicited  the  admiration  of  those  that  heard  him. 

The  parents  were  astonished — struck  with  admiration,  as 
the  strong  Greek  word  means — at  the  scene.  Parents  are 
proverbially  pleased  with  and  proud  of  signs  of  promise  in 
their  children,  and  Mary  and  Joseph  experienced  this  de¬ 
light  in  a  rare  degree  as  the  religious  genius  of  Jesus  be¬ 
gan  to  flash  out. 

Yet  there  was  also  an  ominous  element  in  the  situation 
which  called  forth  from  the  anxious  mother  the  chiding 
question,  “Son,  why  hast  thou  thus  dealt  with  us?”  She 
realized  that  the  lines  of  parental  influence  were  slipping 
from  her  hands  and  that  henceforth  she  could  control  her 
boy  less  and  less  and  that  he  would  act  for  himself  more 
and  more. 

That  was  a  painful  moment  for  Mary,  and  it  is  a  trying 
moment  for  every  father  and  mother  when  they  see  their 
children  beginning  to  separate  themselves  and  assert  their 
own  individuality.  But  this  is  necessary  and  best  for 
children.  Ripened  seeds  must  drop  off  the  tree,  or  there 
could  be  no  more  trees. 

Mary’s  question  drew  from  Jesus  his  first  recorded  ut¬ 
terance:  “How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me?  wist  ye  not  that 
I  must  be  about  my  Father’s  business?”  This  reply  is 
the  kernel  of  this  anecdote,  the  vital  germ  that  kept  it 
alive  and  caused  it  to  blossom  out  in  the  gospel.  Already 
Jesus  was  becoming  aware  of  his  divinity  and  his  mission 
in  the  world.  His  life  was  now  perfectly  set  to  the  music 
of  the  Father’s  will. 

The  parents  of  Jesus  understood  not  this  first  recorded 
utterance — a  sad  commentary  and  mournful  proph¬ 
ecy.  How  often  has  he  been  misunderstood  and  misrepre¬ 
sented  so  that  his  light  has  been  turned  to  darkness  ?  He 
came  unto  his  own  and  his  own  received  him  not.  And 
still  the  Christian  world  misunderstands  him,  and  very 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


129 


imperfectly  do  the  clearest  Christian  minds  penetrate  into 
the  depth  and  power  of  his  meaning.  His  simple  words  are 
larger  than  our  largest  thoughts  of  life  and  love. 

7.  The  Carpenter.  Mark  6 :  3 

“Is  not  this  the  carpenter V ’  Yes,  that  is  just  who  it 
was.  The  question  was  asked  by  his  townsmen  in  derision 
and  scorn  as  though  it  would  place  a  stigma  upon  Jesus 
that  would  forever  discredit  him  as  a  prophet,  but  the 
designation  has  ever  since  been  worn  by  him  as  a  mark 
of  honor.  Unconsciously  they  placed  on  his  brow  one  of 
his  brightest  crowns. 

It  is  a  startling  fact,  which  even  after  nineteen  hundred 
years  has  not  lost  its  wonder,  that  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
was  a  carpenter.  This  is  not  what  the  Jews  expected,  and 
it  is  not  what  we  would  have  expected.  They  looked  for 
a  conquerer  to  break  the  power  of  Rome  and  possibly  we 
would  have  looked  for  a  great  scholar  or  statesman,  but 
God’s  ways  are  not  as  our  ways  and  his  Son  came  neither 
as  the  one  nor  as  the  other  but  as  a  carpenter. 

This  question  is  the  only  gleam  of  light  we  have  from 
the  life  of  Jesus  from  the  twelfth  to  the  thirtieth  year  of 
his  age.  Of  this  long  period  comprising  more  than  half 
of  his  life  not  a  word  is  recorded  to  tell  us  what  he  was 
doing  except  this  word  carpenter.  But  as  an  artist  with 
a  single  sweep  of  his  pencil  or  brush  will  sometimes  draw 
the  outline  of  his  picture,  so  this  word  draws  in  outline 
the  life  of  Jesus  during  this  period.  It  sketches  the  life 
of  one  who  did  not  separate  himself  from  his  fellowmen 
and  from  his  home  folk  but  knit  himself  into  the  humblest 
human  relations.  It  shows  us  a  common  toiler  working 
at  an  ordinary  trade  and  living  contentedly  in  honest  pov¬ 
erty.  There  is  color  enough  in  this  single  word  to  paint  a 
complete  picture  of  Christ’s  early  years.  It  is  worth  more 
than  all  the  apocryphal  gospels  that  are  full  of  absurd  sto¬ 
ries  of  his  youth.  We  may  well  be  thankful  for  such  a 
word. 

The  outstanding  fact  in  these  silent  years  of  Jesus  was 
that  he  was  a  producer;  he  was  not  an  idle  consumer  but 
he  added  to  the  world’s  stock  of  goods.  There  were  more 
and  better  houses  in  Nazareth  or  more  ploughs  and  ox- 


130 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


yokes  on  the  surrounding  farms  because  he  lived  and  toiled. 
We  are  sure  that  his  trade  was  well  learned  and  that  every¬ 
thing  that  left  his  shop  displayed  the  most  thorough  and 
finished  workmanship.  He  who  could  build  a  star  and 
sweep  the  orbit  of  a  planet,  whose  hand  had  left  its  finish¬ 
ing  touch  on  every  grass-blade  and  dewdrop,  could  also  lay 
off  his  angles  and  strike  his  circles  true,  and  he  would 
mortise  timbers  or  shape  ox-yokes  so  that  they  would  ren¬ 
der  the  best  service  and  would  last.  His  work  never 
needed  to  be  done  over  after  him,  he  left  no  loose  joints 
to  be  tightened  up  or  rough  places  to  be  smoothed  down. 
Every  one  knew  that  he  could  be  trusted,  and  his  work 
bore  an  unsurpassed  reputation  and  commanded  the  high¬ 
est  prices. 

All  this  was  a  true  part  of  his  ministry  by  which  he 
helped  to  save  the  world  from  cold  and  hunger,  and  it  was 
a  fitting  preparation  for  that  spiritual  carpentry  by  which 
he  was  to  join  humanity  together  affd  build  a  kingdom  that 
would  stand  forever. 

We  need  more  of  this  spirit  of  faithful  service  in  useful 
lines  in  these  days  when  there  is  much  slovenly  work  done 
in  every  trade  and  profession  and  so  many  are  living  in 
idleness  iand  luxury  on  wealth  that  other  hands  have 
earned.  Every  one  should  be  a  productive  worker  by  hand 
or  head  and  thereby  contribute  to  the  wealth  and  welfare 
of  the  world.  4 ‘The  thistle  that  grows  in  thy  path/’  says 
Carlyle,  “dig  it  out,  that  a  blade  of  grass,  or  a  drop  of 
nourishing  milk,  may  grow  there  instead.  The  waste 
cotton-shrub,  gather  its  waste  white  down,  spin  it,  weave 
it:  that  in  place  of  idle  litter  there  may  be  folded  webs, 
and  the  naked  skin  of  man  be  covered.’ 1 

Paul  commanded  that  “if  any  would  not  work,  neither 
should  he  eat”  (II  Thess.  3:10),  and  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  who  “goeth  before”  us  in  all  things,  set  us  a  noble 
and  inspiring  example  at  this  point  during  these  eighteen 
silent  years. 


CHAPTER  III 


FIRST  YEAR:  THE  EARLY  JUDEAN  MINISTRY 

YEAR  OF  OBSCURITY 

The  thirty  years  of  preparation  have  done  their  work, 
and  Jesus  is  now  ready  to  step  out  into  his  public  min¬ 
istry.  The  first  year  was  spent  chiefly  in  Judea  down  in 
the  Jordan  valley  and  in  and  around  Jerusalem  with  a 
visit  to  Galilee.  It  contained  the  striking  opening  events 
of  the  ministry  and  proceeded  encouragingly  though 
quietly  so  that  it  may  be  designated  the  year  of  obscurity. 
Dates  cannot  be  definitely  determined,  but  the  probable 
dates  are  that  the  baptism  of  J esus  occurred  in  the  fall  of 
A.  D.  26  and  that  the  first  j^ear  closed  with  his  withdrawal 
from  Judea  for  Galilee  in  December  A.  D.  27. 

1.  A  Great  Revival  Meeting 
Matthew  3:1-12;  Mark  1:1-8;  Luke  3 : 1-20 

A  great  revival  meeting  was  going  on  down  in  the  Jor¬ 
dan  valley.  The  preacher  was  John  the  Baptist.  Nothing 
had  been  heard  of  him  for  thirty  years  during  which  he 
was  growing  up  in  the  hill  country  of  Judea  in  that  se¬ 
clusion  and  silence  in  which  all  great  things  must  grow. 
John  was  a  Nazarite,  we  might  call  him  a  monk,  a  man 
who  had  withdrawn  from  human  society  and  for  years  had 
lived  a  solitary  life  in  the  rocky  regions  around  the  Dead 
Sea. 

What  was  the  meaning  of  this  strange  life?  It  was  a 
reaction  against  the  formal  hypocritical  religion  of  his 
time.  Religion  among  the  Jews  had  gone  to  seed  and 
husks.  There  was  no  sap  in  it,  there  were  no  green  leaves 
and  ripening  fruit  on  it,  but  only  empty  pods,  Jewish 
orthodoxy  had  thus  become  a  huge  heap  of  dry  wood  and 
straw:  John  the  Baptist  was  the  spark  that  set  this  tinder 

131 


132 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


on  fire;  he  was  the  Martin  Luther  of  this  reformation. 
Disgusted  with  Pharisaic  hypocrisy  he  had  turned  from 
the  Jewish  church  into  the  wilderness,  not  that  he  might 
have  less  religion,  but  more;  that  out  there  in  the  solitude 
far  from  men  he  might  get  close  to  God  as  did  Moses  in 
the  mount. 

At  length,  being  filled  with  the  Spirit,  John  suddenly 
emerged  from  obscurity  and  appeared  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan  where  he  began  to  preach.  His  striking  personal¬ 
ity,  rough  haircloth  robe  bound  around  his  loins  with  a 
leather  strap,  uncut  hair,  flowing  beard,  and  deep-set 
burning  eye,  suggested  a  prophet.  The  news  reached  Jeru¬ 
salem  that  there  was  a  prophet  down  at  the  Jordan,  and 
the  crowds  went  pouring  down  the  steep  rocky  roads  to 
hear  him. 

What  was  the  secret  of  the  preacher’s  power?  Not  his 
manner  of  dress  and  appearance.  Eccentricities  never 
made  a  Martin  Luther  or  a  John  Knox.  Long  hair  does 
not  make  a  long  head.  John  the  Baptist  was  a  'sincere 
soul  touched  with  the  fire  of  God.  He  had  gotten  rid  of 
empty  forms  and  conventionalities  and  was  speaking  out 
his  genuine  beliefs  and  deep  fiery  emotions.  Instead  of 
mumbling  traditional  dogmas  he  spoke  living  truth  from 
the  heart  to  the  heart.  Such  preaching  created  a  tre¬ 
mendous  sensation  and  drew  people  in  great  crowds. 

The  burning  message  of  John  was  repentance  as  a  prep¬ 
aration  for  the  Messiah  who  was  about  to  appear.  The 
Greek  word  means  “a  change  of  mind,”  a  mental  act  that 
reverses  the  mind  and  will  from  sin  towards  righteousness 
and  God.  It  is  thus  in  its  root  not  an  emotion  but  a  voli¬ 
tion  which  we  can  exercise  and  for  which  we  are  respon¬ 
sible.  Such  repentance  prepares  the  way  for  Christ  in 
the  world  and  in  our  hearts  and  lives. 

John  also  quoted  Isaiah  to  prove  his  message  had  an¬ 
cient  authority  and  divine  sanction.  The  truth  he  was 
preaching  was  not  revolutionary  but  evolutionary.  Isaiah 
was  the  original;  John  was  the  echo;  Isaiah  declared  the 
message  of  repentance;  John  interpreted  and  applied  it. 

John  also  instituted  the  rite  of  baptism  as  an  outer  sign 
of  this  inner  change  of  mind.  The  outer  sign  represents 
and  confirms  the  inner  act  and  roots  it  deeper  in  the  soul 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


133 


and  life.  It  is  a  public  pledge  that  commits  one  to  the  new 
life  and  makes  it  easier  to  maintain  one’s  loyalty  to  it. 

2.  The  Baptism  of  Jesus 
Matthew  3  : 13-17 ;  Mark  1 :  9-11 ;  Luke  3 :  21-22 

At  this  point  in  the  preaching  of  John  Jesus  appeared 
in  his  audience.  Probably  word  of  John’s  ministry  had 
reached  him  in  the  seclusion  of  Nazareth  and  he  knew 
that  his  hour  was  come.  He  offered  himself  for  baptism, 
but  John  hesitated  to  administer  the  ordinance,  saying,  “I 
have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me?” 
Jesus  pressed  the  point,  saying,  “ Suffer  it  to  be  so  now: 
for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness,”  and 
then  John  yielded  and  administered  the  rite. 

There  was  some  reason  why  Jesus  submitted  to  this  or¬ 
dinance.  It  was  not  a  fictitious  performance  done  for  mere 
show, -but  a  genuine  baptism.  We  must  take  this  view  of 
the  whole  life  of  Jesus.  There  was  no  acting  or  theatrical 
display  in  it,  but  everything  was  real,  just  what  it 
purported  to  lie.  His  growth  in  wisdom  was  a  true  pro¬ 
cess  of  education.  His  temptation  was  not  a  sham  battle, 
but  a  veritable  fight. 

Baptism  was  a  symbol  of  repentance  and  cleansing  from 
sin,  and  in  this  sense  Jesus  did  not  need  it  and  could  not 
have  accepted  it,  for  he  had  no  sins  to  repent  of;  but  it 
was  also  a  sign  of  entering  the  kingdom  of  God  and  a 
mark  of  consecration  to  his  service,  and  in  this  sense  Jesus 
could  and  did  receive  it.  He  himself  first  did  what  he 
asked  others  to  do  and  wore  this  badge  of  loyalty  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

This  example  of  our  Lord  shows  us  the  necessity  of 
religious  ordinances  and  the  duty  of  observing  them. 
Objections  are  made  to  religious  rites  as  being  unnecessary 
mechanical  forms:  only  spirit  is  life.  Undoubtedly  the 
inner  spirit  is  the  life  of  religion,  but  can  we  have  the 
inner  life  as  fully  and  richly  without  the  external  form 
and  means?  The  water  is  more  important  than  the  cup, 
but  if  we  refuse  the  cup  shall  we  get  any  water?  We 
may  have  ordinances  without  religion,  but  not  religion 
without  ordinances.  Dangerous  as  ordinances  are,  we 


134 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


must  have  them,  and  they  that  reject  them  cannot  quote 
the  example  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Jesus  came  up  out  of  that  baptismal  water  a  new  man 
into  a  new  world.  The  heavens  opened  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
descended  upon  him  and  filled  him  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God.  Then  came  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  “Thou  art 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.  ’  ’  This  prob¬ 
ably  marked  the  moment  when  Jesus  became  fully  con¬ 
scious  of  his  divinity  and  Messiahship.  Into  the  mystery 
of  this  moment  we  cannot  enter  and  know  not  what  glad 
recognition  of  the  Father  and  what  tremendous  sense  of 
responsibility  and  what  mighty  throb  of  joy  he  experienced 
in  this  epochal  hour. 

This  great  blessing  came  out  of  his  obedience  in  receiv¬ 
ing  baptism.  Jesus  probably  had  no  expectation  of  this 
gift  when  he  offered  himself  for  this  ordinance.  He  was 
then  simply  doing  his  duty  in  fulfilling  all  righteousness. 
But  he  faithfully  obeyed  it,  and,  lo,  this  humble  duty  sud¬ 
denly  blossomed  and  bore  this  wondrous  heavenly  fruit! 
Had  Jesus  never  gone  down  into  that  baptismal  water,  he 
never  would  have  come  up  under  an  opened  sky  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  streaming  down  upon  him,  and  God  never 
would  have  pronounced  him  his  Son.  We  never  can  tell 
how  near  we  are  to  unexpected  and  wonderful  blessing 
when  we  are  performing  a  duty,  even  the  lowest  and 
humblest. 


3.  The  Temptation  of  Jesus 
Matthew  4 : 1-11 ;  Mark  1 : 12-13 ;  Luke  4 : 1-13 

Immediately  after  his  baptism  Jesus  was  led  up  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted.  Baptism  and  temptation  are  here 
crowded  close  together.  Scarcely  had  the  voice  from 
heaven  died  away  when  a  whisper  was  heard  from  hell. 
There  are  sudden  and  violent  changes  of  weather  in  the 
spiritual  world.  The  purest  deed  may  be  bordered  with 
temptation;  our  finest  moods  may  be  marred  by  an  evil 
suggestion.  When  God  is  especially  close  to  us,  Satan 
is  nearby  waiting  for  his  chance.  Out  of  the  baptismal 
benediction  of  the  Father,  Jesus  stepped  into  a  desperate 
struggle  with  the  devil. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


135 


Jesus  was  led  up  of  the  Spirit  to  be  tempted.  We  are 
not  to  run  into  temptation  of  our  own  accord.  We  may 
not  hunt  the  devil  or  go  into  his  den  ourselves.  The  path 
of  duty  as  we  are  led  of  the  Spirit  will  take  us  into  temp¬ 
tation  enough. 

It  was  when  Jesus  was  hungry  and  emaciated  with  forty 
days’  fasting  and  was  reduced  to  the  lowest  point  of  phys¬ 
ical  exhaustion  that  this  temptation  struck  him.  Satan 
did  not  assault  him  at  his  strongest  moment  but  at  his 
frailest  hour  when  his  vitality  was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  Satan 
knows  a  man’s  weakest  time  and  waits  for  it.  There  are 
dangerous  low  tides  in  the  strongest  life,  and  the  best  man 
has  his  hours  when  he  would  not  dare  to  meet  the  devil. 
These  irresolute  moments  are  often  connected  with  bodily 
exhaustion  and  nervous  depression,  and  we  need  to  keep 
a  constant  grip  on  God  that  when  we  are  weak  we  may  be 
strong. 

What  was  the  state  of  mind  of  Jesus  at  this  time  and 
what  was  the  meaning  of  this  conflict?  He  had  just  come 
from  his  baptism  which  probably  marked  the  moment 
when  he  became  clearly  conscious  of  his  Messiahship  and 
divinity  and  supernatural  power.  What  would  be  the  first, 
most  natural,  strongest  and  most  deadly  temptation  in  the 
possession  of  such  power?  To  use  it  selfishly  for  personal 
ends.  This  is  a  temptation  that  always  arises  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  sudden  acquisition  of  power,  such  as  great 
wealth  or  high  office. 

The  question  pressing  on  the  mind  of  Jesus  may  have 
been,  How  would  he  use  his  divine  power?  For  personal 
comfort  and  aggrandizement  ?  or  only  in  the  service  of 
God  for  the  salvation  of  the  world?  Using  his  power  in 
the  first  way  would  prostitute  it  to  personal  ambition  and 
would  prove  his  ruin,  and  using  it  the  other  way  would  lead 
by  way  of  the  cross  to  the  fulfillment  of  his  mission  as  the 
Saviour  of  the  world.  Satan  saw  this  psychological  moment 
and  was  there  to  try  to  push  Jesus  off  the  edge  of  this 
precipice  into  the  bottomless  pit. 

The  three  temptations  were  all  along  this  line  of  sugges¬ 
tion.  To  make  bread  out  of  stone  was  to  do  that  which 
was  harmless  in  itself  and  was  only  providing  proper  food 
for  the  body  and  so  it  came  appareled  in  light  as  an  inno- 


136 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


cent  and  reasonable  and  right  thing  to  do.  All  sin  prac¬ 
tices  this  art  of  clothing  itself  in  the  garb  of  innocence 
so  that  hardly  ever  does  a  man  do  wrong  until  he  has 
persuaded  himself  that  the  wrong  is  right.  Yet  this  way 
of  getting  bread  on  the  part  of  Jesus  would  have  been  to 
distrust  and  renounce  his  Father’s  providence  in  supply¬ 
ing  his  needs  and  to  resort  to  his  own  power.  Our  senses 
and  appetites  are  especially  points  of  attack  where  temp¬ 
tation  may  assail  us,  sensuality  is  one  of  our  commonest 
and  most  deadly  sins,  and  at  these  points  we  need  to  be  on 
our  guard  and  keep  on  the  whole  armour  of  God. 

Jesus  saw  through  the  false  innocence  of  this  proposal 
into  its  heart  of  disloyalty  and  disobedience  and  he  struck 
it  down  with  a  sure  stroke  of  the  sword  of  the  Spirit. 

The  second  temptation  to  leap  from  the  pinnacle  of  the 
temple  was  a  proposal  that  Jesus  should  by  this  sensa¬ 
tional  act  gain  sudden  popular  applause  and  win  quick 
support  for  his  mission.  It  was  a  suggestion  that  he  could 
fly  from  the  appointed  path  of  obedience  and  service  off 
at  any  wild  caprice  and  that  God  would  keep  him  safe. 
The  same  temptation  comes  to  us  when  we  think  to  violate 
natural  laws,  as  in  some  forms  of  faith  cure,  and  expect 
God  to  keep  us  from  harm.  In  such  cases  we  want  God  to 
keep  us,  not  in  all  his,  but  in  all  our  ways.  Jesus  saw 
through  this  disloyal  proposal  and  pierced  it  so  that  it  lay 
slain  at  his  feet. 

The  third  temptation  was  an  offer  to  Jesus  by  which  he 
could  win  his  kingdom  in  a  moment  by  one  little  act  and 
even  get  the  world  by  a  word.  Perhaps  the  meaning  of 
the  suggestion  that  Jesus  should  worship  Satan  was  that 
he  was  to  resort  to  Satan’s  means,  such  as  the  sword  and 
wealth  and  power,  to  establish  his  kingdom  as  other  con¬ 
querors  had  done.  Might  not  he  also  successfully  do 
what  Alexander  and  Caesar  had  done  in  their  swift  vic¬ 
torious  campaigns  and  thus  avoid  the  slow  and  tragic  way 
of  the  cross? 

The  sword  is  Satan’s  own  weapon  and  every  night  he 
sleeps  on  the  pillows  of  power :  why  not  put  this  quick  in¬ 
strument  into  the  hands  of  Jesus?  How  strong  is  the 
temptation  with  us  to  take  the  short  cut  to  our  ends  and 
to  do  the  devil’s  bidding  in  using  worldly  means  to  reach 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  137 

worldly  ambitions?  We  want  the  kingdom  at  a  stroke  and 
are  in  danger  of  selling  our  souls  to  get  it. 

Jesus  felt  the  full  force  of  this  powerful  temptation. 
He  gazed  upon  the  splendid  prospect  of  that  outspread 
world.  He  saw  how  short  was  the  step  that  promised  the 
kingdom.  It  was  a  perilous  hour  with  him  and  his  very 
mission  as  the  Son  of  God  trembled  in  the  balance.  Then 
turning  in  resistless  might,  he  tore  the  mask  from  his 
tempter,  revealed  him  in  his  hideous  nakedness  as  Satan, 
bade  him  from  his  presence  and  declared  his  eternal  alle¬ 
giance  and  loyalty  to  God. 

The  Son  of  God  was  still  untouched;  not  one  fleck  had 
spotted  the  immaculate  whiteness  of  his  soul.  And  the 
devil,  foiled,  defeated  and  crushed,  fled  and  vanished  into 
the  infinite  darkness  whence  he  came. 

We  are  to  mark  the  means  by  which  Jesus  resisted  these 
temptations:  ‘‘It  is  written.’ ’  “It  is  written.”  “It  is 
written.  ”  The  Word  of  God  was  his  shield,  and  by  it  every 
flaming  dart  was  quenched.  He  conquered  by  the  ordinary 
means  of  grace.  He  did  not  call  into  action  his  divinity, 
but  he  bore  this  temptation  in  his  humanity.  He  was 
tempted  as  we  are,  and  he  conquered  as  we  may. 

We  need  no  new  weapons  to  resist  Satan,  for  still  “it  is 
written.”  The  old  Bible  furnishes  shields  and  swords  to 
match  all  the  temptations  of  modern  life.  The  devil  has 
invented  no  new  weapon  since  the  ones  he  used  in  the  gar¬ 
den  of  Eden. 

Yet  Jesus  did  not  conquer  by  merely  quoting  Scrip¬ 
ture,  for  Satan  quoted  Scripture  too.  It  was  by  his  grip 
on  the  realities  back  of  the  written  words  that  he  won  the 
victory.  In  proportion  as  we  believe  and  feed  upon  these 
truths  will  they  strengthen  and  inspire  us  and  then  when 
we  resist  the  devil  he  will  flee  from  us;  and  when  he  is 
gone,  the  angels  of  God  will  come. 

4.  How  the  Kingdom  Started  to  Grow 

John  1 : 35-51 

From  his  temptation  in  the  wilderness  Jesus  came 
strong  in  spirit  and  wearing  the  victor’s  crown  and  re¬ 
turned  to  the  Jordan  where  John  was  still  preaching.  On 


138 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


seeing  Jesus  John  exclaimed,  “Behold  the  Lamb  of  God!” 
and  pointed  his  own  disciples  to  the  new  Prophet.  Here 
was  a  preacher  in  the  flood  tide  of  his  popularity  and  suc¬ 
cess  turning  his  own  disciples  away  from  himself  to  an¬ 
other.  John  was  now  the  central  figure  in  all  Judea  and 
all  eyes  were  turned  to  him  in  expectation.  It  seemed 
that  a  splendid  crown  was  within  his  grasp.  Why  not  an¬ 
nounce  himself  as  the  Messiah?  Yet  he  deliberately  re¬ 
jected  it  and  placed  it  upon  the  brow  of  his  rival.  He  ap¬ 
preciated  the  supreme  and  solitary  greatness  of  Jesus  and 
east  his  crown  at  his  feet.  “He  must  increase,”  he  said, 
“but  I  must  decrease.  He  that  cometh  from  above  is 
above  all.” 

Two  disciples  turned  from  John  and  followed  Jesus, 
Andrew  and  John  the  son  of  Zebedee.  To  their  inquiry, 
“Master,  where  dwellest  thou?”  the  answer  of  Jesus  was, 
“Come  and  see.”  From  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning  until 
the  evening  shadows  fell,  Jesus  and  these  two  men  en¬ 
gaged  in  earnest  conversation  concerning  the  Messiah  and 
his  kingdom;  and  when  they  separated  Jesus  had  bound 
these  first  disciples  to  himself  with  cords  of  faith  and 
friendship  that  thereafter  never  broke. 

There  was  no  revival  meeting  or  religious  excitement  in 
connection  with  these  conversions,  but  in  the  privacy  and 
quietness  of  a  personal  interview  these  men  gave  their 
hearts  to  Christ.  It  is  not  necessary  to  engage  in  public 
preaching  and  sway  great  audiences  in  order  to  save  men ; 
a  private  word  may  be  equally  effective  in  drawing  a  soul 
into  the  kingdom. 

Jesus  gained  these  two  disciples  himself,  and  now  these 
disciples  started  out  to  gain  others.  Andrew  found  Simon 
his  brother  and  brought  him  to  Jesus.  If  John  found  his 
brother  James  at  the  same  time,  the  number  of  the  disci¬ 
ples  doubled  the  first  day.  Andrew,  full  of  the  joy  of  his 
own  discovery,  hastened  to  his  brother  with  the  announce¬ 
ment,  “We  have  found  the  Messiah!”  That  was  glad 
news  to  a  Jew,  and  Andrew  could  not  keep  it  to  himself, 
but  immediately  imparted  it  to  his  brother,  “and  he 
brought  him  to  Jesus.” 

Jesus  found  Andrew,  Andrew  found  Simon:  this  is  the 
way  the  kingdom  grows,  each  converted  soul  finding  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


139 


next  one.  Jesus  began  the  process,  and  his  own  converts 
carried  it  on.  Christians  are  Christ  multiplied  and  con¬ 
tinued.  Andrew  found  his  brother,  and  kinship  and 
friendship  are  natural  lines  of  connection  along  which  the 
gospel  still  works.  Ties  of  blood  are  powerful  cords  draw¬ 
ing  others  into  the  kingdom. 

Jesus  looked  upon  Simon  with  searching  insight  and 
said,  “Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  Jona:  thou  shalt  be  called 
Cephas,  which  is  by  interpretation,  A  stone.’ ’  Peter  means 
rock,  and  the  new  name  described  the  new  nature  he  was 
to  receive  through  his  fellowship  with  Jesus.  Unstable 
and  impulsive  on  the  surface,  there  was  yet  lying  deep  in 
Peter  a  bed  of  rock  that  became  a  foundation  of  solid 
steadfastness  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  There  are  too  many 
Christians  of  clay :  Christ  wants  Christians  of  rock. 

Andrew  remained  an  obscure  disciple,  while  Peter  be¬ 
gan  to  shine  with  brilliance  and  became  conspicuous  and 
forever  famous,  the  one  disciple  revolving  around  the 
other  as  a  mere  satellite  and  known  as  “Simon  Peter’s 
brother.”  Yet  it  was  the  obscure  brother  that  drew  the 
more  brilliant  one  within  the  attraction  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  and  thus  made  him  luminous.  We  may  not 
be  flaming  apostles  ourselves,  but  we  may  draw  to  Christ 
others  who  will  be  burning  and  shining  lights., 

On  the  next  day  Jesus  started  for  Galilee,  and  pres¬ 
ently  he  fell  in  with  Philip  and  said  unto  him,  “Follow 
me.”  Phillip  joined  the  little  company  of  disciples,  and 
thus  it  grew  even  as  it  passed  along  the  public  road. 

Again  the  process  of  one  convert  finding  another  started 
and  “Philip  findeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him,  we 
have  found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  proph¬ 
ets  did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.”  This 
speech  shows  that  Philip  was  a  student  of  the  Scriptures 
and  knew  what  to  look  for  in  the  Messiah  and  that  he 
found  these  marks  fulfilled  in  Jesus. 

But  this  announcement  that  sprang  from  a  heart  of  joy 
and  full  of  good  intention  instantly  struck  a  snag  and 
stirred  up  prejudice  in  Nathanael’s  mind.  “Can  there 
any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?”  He  was  from 
Cana  (John  21:2),  a  neighboring  village,  and  doubtless 
shared  the  prejudice  that  one  town  often  entertains  against 


140 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


another.  So  he  met  the  gladdest  announcement  that  could 
come  to  a  Jew  with  a  rebuff  born  of  petty  local  jealousy 
and  pride. 

Prejudice  in  its  myriad  forms  is  still  one  of  the  greatest 
obstructions  in  the  way  of  the  gospel.  Prejudice  against 
Christian  faith  on  account  of  its  mysteries  and  difficul¬ 
ties,  against  the  church  on  account  of  the  inconsistencies 
of  its  members,  many  are  the  objections  a  prejudiced  per¬ 
son  can  raise  against  the  call  of  Christ,  especially  if  se¬ 
cretly  he  does  not  want  to  follow  him. 

Had  Philip  undertaken  to  argue  the  point  with  Nathan¬ 
ael  he  might  have  gotten  the  worst  of  the  argument;  at 
least  he  would  probably  only  have  confirmed  Nathanael 
in  his  prejudice.  But  his  simple  answer  was,  ‘  1  Come  and 
see.”  Nathanael  acted  on  this  reasonable  proposal,  and, 
after  a  brief  interview  with  Jesus  and  a  personal  expe¬ 
rience  of  his  fellowship,  he  exclaimed,  “  Rabbi,  thou  art 
the  Son  of  God;  thou  art  the  king  of  Israel.”  What  no 
controversy  could  have  done,  simple  seeing  for  himself 
did  do. 

This  is  still  Christ’s  own  proposal  for  the  solution  of  all 
our  doubts  and  difficulties.  Fellowship  and  obedience  are 
ever  the  way  out  of  these  into  clearness  and  sureness  of 
faith.  Let  us  honestly  go  to  Christ  and  try  his  doctrine 
and  way  of  life,  and  we  shall  know  that  he  is  of  God  and 
accept  him  as  our  Lord  and  King. 

Thus  we  see  how  the  kingdom  began  to  grow.  It  is  in¬ 
structive  to  study  how  Christ  started  his  work.  He  did 
not  begin  and  carry  on  his  work,  as  we  would  have  ex¬ 
pected,  with  a  great  spectacular  program  and  campaign. 
He  did  not  go  to  Jerusalem,  the  civil  and  religious  metrop¬ 
olis,  and  there  build  a  great  tabernacle  seating  five  or  ten 
thousand  people  and  preach  to  packed  audiences.  On  the 
contrary  he  went  into  the  obscure  parts  of  the  country  and 
engaged  in  his  work  quietly  and  privately,  trying  to  keep 
down  excitement  and  avoid  crowds.  Even  when  working 
miracles  he  endeavored  to  prevent  their  being  blazed 
abroad  as  a  means  of  creating  wonder  and  drawing  peo¬ 
ple  through  curiosity.  He  preferred  to  meet  the  people 
in  small  groups.  It  seemed  that  he  would  rather  sit  down 
and  talk  with  one  man  than  preach  to  five  thousand. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


141 


It  is  true  that  he  did  at  times  attract  great  multitudes 
and  preach  in  the  open  air.  But  it  is  remarkable  that  no 
conversion  is  recorded  as  having  taken  place  under  this 
public  preaching.  Jesus  picked  up  most  of  his  converts 
through  private  interviews.  When  he  preached  to  a 
throng  he  might  not  get  anybody,  but  when  he  talked  with 
one  he  was  sure  of  his  man. 

All  growth  takes  place  by  gradual  accretions.  It  is  thus 
that  Christ’s  kingdom  grows.  As  the  process  of  crystalli¬ 
zation  proceeds  through  a  liquid  atom  by  atom,  as  a  tree 
grows  cell  by  cell,  so  does  the  line  of  conversion  move 
through  the  home  and  across  the  country  and  around  the 
world.  The  method  of  Jesus  is  that  of  growth,  first  the 
blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear;  it 
is  that  of  the  leaven  that  spreads  slowly  through  the  whole 
mass.  As  Christ  found  Philip  and  Philip  found  Nathan¬ 
ael  so  are  we  to  keep  adding  link  to  link  in  the  lengthen¬ 
ing  chain  of  his  kingdom  until  it  binds  his  first  with  his 
final  coming. 

5.  Water  Turned  Into  Wine.  John  2 : 1-11 

Arriving  in  Galilee,  J esus  went  with  his  disciples  to  the 
village  of  Cana,  where  a  wedding  was  being  celebrated  and 
his  mother  was  there.  Possibly  the  wedding  was  the  oc¬ 
casion  of  this  visit,  and  it  is  deeply  significant  that  he  was 
present  and  participated  in  such  a  joyous  ceremony.  By 
this  act  he  at  once  set  himself  in  bold  contrast  with  his 
forerunner,  John  the  Baptist. 

Jesus  was  not  a  recluse  and  an  ascetic,  separating  him¬ 
self  from  his  human  kind,  but  he  was  a  man  of  the  world, 
mingling  freely  in  all  its  currents  and  sharing  in  its  varied 
scenes  and  festivities.  The  Christian  is  not  to  keep  him¬ 
self  out  of  the  world,  though  he  is  to  keep  himself  un¬ 
spotted  from  the  world.  To  be  saved  is  not  to  be  sad. 

The  joy  of  the  occasion  was  suddenly  halted:  the  wine 
failed.  The  wine  of  this  world  always  does  fail.  Any  joy 
that  rests  on  a  material  basis  is  built  on  sand  and  cannot 
last.  The  mother  of  Jesus  was  quick  to  sense  the  situation 
and  with  delicate  tact  she  said  to  him,  “They  have  no 
wine.”  This  gentle  hint  of  the  mother  drew  from  the 
son  a  strange  reply.  While  it  contains  no  slightest  discour- 


142 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


tesy,  yet  it  was  an  intimation  to  her  that  he  must  judge 
of  the  time  and  way  of  his  own  action  and  could  not  use 
his  power  at  the  suggestion  of  another.  We  must  beware 
of  the  faintest  suggestion  in  our  prayers  of  dictating  to 
God  and  must  never  try  to  hurry  him  up. 

The  mother,  however,  was  satisfied  with  the  answer, 
doubtless  hearing  between  the  words  more  than  was  said, 
and  with  beautiful  trust  directed  the  servants,  “  Whatso¬ 
ever  he  saith  unto  you,  do  it.”  This  is  the  bond  that 
should  bind  us  to  Christ,  and  no  surer  ground  of  obedience 
and  no  finer  fellowship  can  we  find  than  simply  to  do  what 
he  bids  us. 

The  moment  for  action  came  and  at  the  command  of 
Jesus  the  servants  first  filled  with  water  the  six  large  stone 
jars  standing  by  and  then  drew  out  and  bore  to  the  ruler 
of  the  feast  wine  which  he  pronounced  of  the  best  quality. 
At  some  point  in  this  process  “the  conscious  water  saw  its 
God  and  blushed,”  the  water  reddened  into  wine.  Into 
the  inner  mechanism  of  this  miracle  we  cannot  penetrate, 
but  it  is  no  more  mysterious  than  the  chemistry  by  which 
water  is  turned  into  wine  inside  the  grape.  Jesus  did  in 
a  moment  what  the  sun  does  in  a  month. 

The  miracles  of  Jesus  were  all  acted  parables,  forms  of 
the  truth  cast  in  the  visible  and  vivid  molds  of  concrete 
deeds.  When  the  wine  of  this  world  fails  and  life  looks 
dark,  J esus  can  work  a  transformation  that  will  be  as  wine 
to  our  spirits.  How  often  as  we  look  out  over  the  world 
and  see  its  widespread  misery  and  sorrow  can  we  say  of 
its  millions,  ‘  ‘  They  have  no  wine ’  ’  ?  Somewhere  there  must 
be  refreshment  for  its  thirsting  people,  and  the  same  hand 
that  furnished  the  wine  at  that  wedding  in  Cana  can  sup¬ 
ply  the  spiritual  wine  of  his  wisdom  and  grace  that  is 
abundant  and  rich  enough  for  all  the  world. 

In  giving  us  this  blessing  Jesus  makes  use  of  the  means 
we  have  and  gives  us  a  part  in  the  process.  The  servants 
filled  the  jar  with  water  and  drew  out  the  wine.  Had  they 
put  no  water  in,  no  wine  would  have  come  out.  God  has  a 
part  for  us  in  all  his  dealings  with  us,  and  in  all  the  bless¬ 
ings  he  gives  us  we  are  co-workers  with  him. 

The  wine  proved  to  be  of  such  good  quality  that  the 
ruler  exclaimed,  “Thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


143 


now.”  Christ  always  gives  us  the  best  he  has.  He  offers 
us  no  cheap  gifts,  palms  off  on  us  no  adulterated  goods,  but 
gives  us  the  best  his  market  affords,  and  his  market  is  the 
universe.  The  devil  gives  his  best  wine  first,  but  at  last  it 
biteth  like  a  serpent ;  there  is  a  snake  in  the  bottom  of  his 
cup.  The  first  end  of  sin  is  always  pleasant:  it  is  the 
last  end  that  stings.  The  Christian  life  grows  better  and 
better  and  it  will  end  with  the  wine  of  heaven. 

In  this  beginning  of  his  miracles  Jesus  “  manifested 
forth  his  glory.”  Water  changed  into  wine  is  a  symbol 
of  all  his  work.  He  transmutes  sin  into  penitence,  unbe¬ 
lief  into  faith,  the  vileness  of  wickedness  into  the  beauty 
of  holiness,  and  sinners  into  saints. 

The  chemist  takes  scum  and  dross  and  transforms  them 
into  exquisite  perfume  and  the  most  beautiful  colors.  The 
artist  takes  coarse  materials  and  transfigures  them  into 
masterpieces  of  painting,  and  the  sculptor  turns  a  block  of 
stone  into  a  white  angel.  The  most  brilliant  diamond  is 
only  common  coal  transformed  into  a  blazing  jewel  shoot¬ 
ing  vivid  flashes  of  light. 

All  that  Christ  touches  he  transforms  and  transfigures. 
He  brings  the  best  possibilities  out  of  men.  Under  his 
divine  sunshine  and  quickening  breath  the  wilderness  shall 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose  and  become  $  new  Par¬ 
adise  of  God. 

6.  First  Cleansing  of  the  Temple.  John  2 : 13-22. 

Jesus  sojourned  for  a  few  days  in  Capernaum  and  then 
returned  to  Judea  and  we  next  find  him  at  the  first  Pass- 
over  he  attended  in  his  ministry.  Holy  city  as  it  was  by 
calling  and  privilege,  Jerusalem  was  no  congenial  place 
for  Jesus. 

We  shall  let  the  Italian  novelist,  Giovanni  Papini,  paint 
the  picture  for  us  in  his  Life  of  Christ:  “ Jerusalem  like 
all  capitals — great  sewers  to  which  flow  the  refuse,  the  out¬ 
casts,  the  rubbish  of  the  nations — is  inhabited  by  a  mob 
of  frivolous,  elegant,  idle,  skeptical  and  indifferent  people, 
by  a  ceremonious  patrician  class  who  have  kept  only  the 
tradition  of  ritual  and  the  sterile  rancor  of  their  deca¬ 
dence;  by  an  aristocracy  of  property  owners  and  specula¬ 
tors  who  belong  to  the  herd  of  Mammon,  and  by  a  rebel- 


144 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


lious,  restless,  ignorant  crowd,  controlled  only  by  the  su¬ 
perstition  of  the  Temple  and  the  fear  of  the  foreigner’s 
sword.  Jerusalem  was  not  fit  soil  for  the  sowing  of  Jesus.” 

When  Jesus  entered  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  temple, 
he  found  a  terrible  desecration  of  his  Father’s  house.  Im¬ 
mense  numbers  of  animals  were  needed  for  the  feast  and 
'  offerings,  and  worshipers  bought  these  in  Jerusalem.  There 
were  also  brokers  for  the  exchange  of  the  various  kinds  of 
foreign  money  into  shekels  for  the  temple  offerings.  All 
this  business,  attended  as  it  was  with  gross  evils,  had  in¬ 
vaded  the  temple  court.  The  crowds  and  confusion,  the 
cattle  and  merchandise  and  traffic,  the  clamorous  hawking 
and  haranguing  of  the  noisy  Oriental  venders,  the  cheat¬ 
ing  and  frauds,  wTere  a  wicked  and  intolerable  nuisance 
and  desecration  of  the  place  of  worship.  The  holy  house  of 
prayer  had  been  turned  into  a  den  of  thieves. 

No  associations  that  jar  upon  our  sense  of  propriety 
and  reverence  should  be  allowed  to  invade  and  gather 
around  our  sanctuary.  The  church  is  exposed  to  the  same 
evil  in  a  more  insidious  and  dangerous  way  through  the 
intrusion  of  a  worldly  spirit  into  its  worship  and  mem¬ 
bership.  When  the  selfishness  and  strife  and  unrighteous¬ 
ness  of  the  world  get  into  the  church,  it  is  no  more  a  fit 
dwelling  place  for  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Christ  and  there 
the  Shekinah  ceases  to  shine. 

Jesus  looked  upon  the  shocking  scene  with  painful  aver¬ 
sion  and  holy  indignation.  He  was  a  young  man,  an  un¬ 
known  Galilean,  with  no  express  authority  to  interfere, 
for  the  matter  was  under  the  supervision  of  the  priests, 
but  there  are  moments  when  petty  points  of  order  and 
mere  technicalities  must  give  way  before  some  fundamental 
principle  and  mighty  impulse  of  righteousness. 

Jesus  felt  that  this  hour  had  come.  The  whole  thing 
was  broadly  and  glaringly  illegal  and  should  be  ended  at 
once.  Picking  up  some  cords  and  tying  them  together  into 
a  whip,  he  drove  the  animals  out  of  the  temple ;  then  turn¬ 
ing  upon  the  money  changers,  he  upset  their  tables,  scat¬ 
tering  their  coins  upon  the  marble  pavement;  lastly  he 
ordered  the  dove  dealers  with  their  cages  to  leave,  com¬ 
pleting  the  work  with  the  admonition,  “Make  not  my  Fath¬ 
er’s  house  a  house  of  merchandise.” 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


145 


The  sudden  attack  created  consternation  among  the 
unholy  traffickers,  and  the  reform  was  accomplished  in  a 
moment.  What  was  the  explanation  of  this  amazing  act? 
Guilty  consciences  on  the  one  side,  and  holy  earnestness  on 
the  other.  These  noisy  venders  knew  that  they  were  dese¬ 
crating  the  temple,  and  they  quailed  before  and  slunk 
away  from  the  lofty  personality  of  Jesus,  “the  starry  light 
that  shone  in  his  eyes  and  the  divine  majesty  that  beamed 
from  his  features.” 

The  incident  shows  the  power  of  one  brave  man  who  is 
right  against  a  multitude  who  are  wrong.  Jesus  was  not 
only  gentle  with  divine  tenderness,  but  he  was  also  inflex¬ 
ible  on  every  point  of  righteousness  and  out  of  him  could 
flash  divine  wrath.  He  was  no  pure  pacifist,  but  was  a 
true  soldier  of  God,  In  remembering  that  he  is  the  Lamb, 
we  should  not  forget  that  he  is  also  the  Lion. 

This  cleansing  of  the  temple  brought  about  the  first 
clash  of  Jesus  with  the  Jews  and  started  the  conflict  that 
finally  resulted  in  his  death  at  their  hands.  As  soon  as 
they  recovered  from  their  astonishment  at  his  temerity, 
they  began  to  take  note  of  this  unknown  reformer  and  de¬ 
manded  that  he  furnish  them  with  a  certificate  of  his  au¬ 
thority  in  the  form  of  a  sign. 

Jesus  promptly  answered,  “Destroy  this  temple,  and  in 
three  days  I  will  raise  it  up.”  This  enigmatical  answer 
may  have  been  accompanied  with  a  gesture  pointing  to  his 
bod}r,  but  the  Jews  understood  him  to  speak  of  the  temple 
and  they  were  still  further  astonished  and  indignant  at  his 
audacity.  The  temple  stood  as  the  very  embodiment  o£ 
their  national  religion  and  patriotism  and  pride,  the  holiest 
spot  and  structure  on  earth,  and  Jesus  could  not  have 
made  a  more  unpatriotic  and  unorthodox,  radical  and  revo¬ 
lutionary  utterance.  But  there  are  times  when  it  is  nec¬ 
essary  to  shock  crass  bigotry  and  corrupt  ecclesiasticism 
with  startling  statements  of  truth.  Such  men  as  these 
Pharisees  and  scribes  can  feel  only  the  thrust  of  a  sword, 
and  they  have  not  yet  all  passed  from  us. 

The  answer  of  Jesus  had  primary  reference  to  the  temple 
of  his  body,  and  thus  early  did  he  plant  the  rock  of  his  res¬ 
urrection  in  his  life-plan  as  a  foundation  stone;  but  it 
may  also  have  had  a  further  reference  to  the  temple  itself 


146 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


which  he  did  sweep  from  that  mountaintop  as  an  exclusive 
place  of  worship  when  he  taught  that  men  should  every¬ 
where  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  There 
mere  place  is  unimportant. 

The  iron  of  this  saying  entered  into  the  souls  of  these 
Jews,  for  they  brought  his  declaration  against  him  at  his 
trial  and  coarsely  flung  it  at  him  on  the  cross. 

7.  A  Distinguished  Night  Visitor.  John  2  : 23-3  :  21 

It  is  night  and  Jesus  is  closeted  with  one  man.  Two  of 
our  Lord’s  greatest  discourses  were  delivered  to  single 
hearers,  Nicodemus  and  the  woman  of  Samaria,  and  with 
the  great  Preacher  one  soul  was  a  great  audience.  This 
first  recorded  discourse  of  Jesus  is  compact  with  the  great 
doctrine  and  duties  of  salvation,  and  his  theology  was  com¬ 
plete  from  the  beginning. 

The  inquirer  who  sought  this  interview  is  an  interesting 
and  attractive  character.  He  was  a  Pharisee  and  a  rabbi, 
a  member  of  the  Sanhedrin  and  a  man  of  wealth.  He  was 
therefore  a  man  of  the  highest  religious  orthodoxy,  of  un¬ 
blemished  reputation,  of  profound  learning,  of  influential 
social  position,  and  from  every  point  of  view  one  of  the 
foremost  men  in  Jerusalem. 

Having  seen  the  miracles  of  Jesus  he  came  to  him  by 
night.  The  night  visit  has  been  used  against  him  as  im¬ 
plying  timidity  or  something  worse,  but  this  is  not  a  sure 
inference.  There  may  have  been  good  reasons  why  it  was 
convenient  for  him  to  see  Jesus  at  this  hour,  and  yet  it 
must  be  admitted  that  through  his  whole  course  Nicodemus 
at  least  displayed  that  discretion  which  is  the  better  part 
of  valor,  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  crucifixion  that  he 
came  out  boldly  as  a  follower  of  the  Nazarene.  The  re¬ 
markable  thing,  however,  was  that  this  prominent  rabbi 
should  visit  the  obscure  Galilean,  who  had  so  fearlessly 
attacked  existing  institutions,  at  all. 

Nicodemus  opened  the  interview  by  paying  a  remark¬ 
able  compliment  to  Jesus.  He  addressed  him  as  rabbi  and 
declared  him  to  be  a  teacher  come  from  God.  This  shows 
that  he  was  already  profoundly  impressed  with  the  mys¬ 
terious  young  rabbi  from  the  north.  Doubtless  his  thought 
was  that,  as  an  orthodox  Jew  and  conspicuous  rabbi  him- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


147 


self,  he  was  entitled  to  a  chief  place  in  the  kingdom  Jesns 
was  proclaiming  and  that  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  offer 
himself  and  be  accepted. 

And  what  a  splendid  convert  and  powerful  accession  to 
the  cause  of  the  lowly  Nazarene  he  would  have  made? 
Would  not  an  alliance  with  such  an  influential  rabbi  have 
in  it  the  promise  and  potency  of  speedy  success?  The 
temptations  of  J esus  did  not  end  in  the  wilderness,  and  it 
may  be  that  this  perilous  thought  pressed  against  his  mind 
on  this  memorable  night. 

How  did  Jesus  receive  this  distinguished  visitor?  With 
the  bold  and  brusque  declaration  that  he  must  be  born 
again.  He  took  no  notice  of  his  flattering  compliment;  he 
paid  no  deference  to  his  orthodoxy  and  learning  and  social 
standing,  and  made  no  bid  for  his  support.  He  no  more 
relaxed  the  principles  of  his  kingdom  for  this  wealthy  and 
powerful  rabbi  than  he  did  for  illiterate  and  profane 
fishermen.  On  the  contrary  he  insisted  on  a  new  birth  as  a 
necessary  condition  of  entering  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
inflexibly  applied  this  principle  to  Nicodemus  himself. 
This  eminent  doctor  of  divinity  stood  high  in  the  church, 
he  was  learned  in  the  Scriptures,  no  stain  was  upon  his 
professional  robe,  but  he  was  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

What  chance  was  there  for  this  young  Galilean  to  make 
headway  with  his  cause  in  the  world  when  he  started  out 
by  setting  up  such  formidable  conditions  and  boldly  con¬ 
fronting  if  not  affronting  such  a  possible  convert  as  Nico¬ 
demus  with  such  terms?  The  splendid  audacity  of  Jesus 
here  flashes  out.  He  was  no  time-server  but  set  himself 
against  all  the  currents  of  his  age. 

Nicodemus  was  puzzled,  although  he  ought  not  to  have 
been,  for  his  Old  Testament  tells  of  a  new  heart  and  the 
rabbis  had  a  saying  that  a  convert  is  “like  a  child  new¬ 
born/ ’  Yet  Nicodemus  did  not  know  what  Jesus  was 
talking  about  and  displayed  surprising  and  lamentable  ig¬ 
norance,  and  there  are  still  many  surprising  people  in  the 
church.  Jesus  explained  the  new  birth  as  one  of  the  spirit 
and  brought  it  into  line  with  the  natural  law  that  like 
must  come  from  like,  flesh  from  flesh,  and  spirit  from 
spirit.  Nicodemus  was  still  perplexed,  and  Jesus  ex- 


148 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


pressed  surprise  that  a  master  in  Israel  should  not  know 
these  things. 

Jesus  proceeded  to  set  forth  his  authority  for  his  teach¬ 
ing.  He  was  not  a  mere  philosopher  or  theorist  spinning 
out  personal  opinions  and  guesses  at  truth ;  neither  was  he 
teaching  knowledge  that  he  had  gained  at  second  hand; 
but  “we  speak/ ’  he  declared,  “that  we  do  know  and  tes¬ 
tify  that  we  have  seen.”  Jesus  Christ  knew  what  he  was 
talking  about,  and  on  the  subject  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
he  is  ever  the  greatest  expert  and  highest  authority. 

Presently  Jesus  was  the  only  speaker.  Nicodemus  had 
become  silent  and  sat  as  a  rapt  listener.  Jesus  rose  to 
lofty  and  ever  loftier  heights.  As  he  sat  with  this  soli¬ 
tary  hearer  in  the  silence  of  the  night  he  uttered  some  of 
his  sublimest  sayings.  Presently  he  uttered  that  saying 
that  is  the  richest  and  most  splendid  verse  in  the  Bible: 
“For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begot¬ 
ten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  per¬ 
ish,  but  have  everlasting  life.”  This  sweeps  the  unbroken 
horizon  of  salvation.  It  mirrors  the  whole  sky  of  redemp¬ 
tion,  thickest  with  stars.  It  gathers  up  all  the  notes  of  the 
gospel  and  strikes  them  in  one  rich  massive  chord.  It  is 
full  of  infinities  and  eternities.  It  is  ineffably  bright  with 
divine  love,  and  yet  it  is  edged  with  divine  wrath.  Heaven 
is  in  it,  and  so  is  hell.  Had  we  only  this  one  utterance  of 
Jesus  and  verse  of  the  Bible  it  would  have  in  it  virtue  to 
save  the  world. 

J esus  ended  the  interview  with  the  practical  admonition, 
“He  that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds 
may  be  made  manifest,  that  they  are  wrought  in  God.” 
“He  that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,”  said  Jesus  to 
the  man  that  came  to  him  by  night,  a  possible  hint  that  he 
should  have  come  and  that  we  all  should  come  to  him 
publicly  in  the  day. 

8.  A  Convert  from  Low  Life.  John  4:  4-26 

At  this  point  Herod  threw  John  the  Baptist  into  prison, 
and  Jesus  quietly  withdrew  from  Judea  and  started  for 
Galilee,  not  because  he  lacked  courage  but  because  he  pos¬ 
sessed  prudence.  His  work  was  not  yet  done  and  the  time 
for  his  final  conflict  had  not  yet  come. 

_  It  was  while  he  was  on  his  way  with  his  disciples  up 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


149 


through  Samaria  that  he  held  another  private  interview 
and  delivered  another  great  discourse  to  an  audience  of 
one ;  this  time  with  a  woman.  Nicodemus  was  a  great  and 
good  man,  but  this  was  an  obscure  and  disreputable  woman. 
Christ  was  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  any  soul  is  worth 
trying  to  save  and  may  prove  a  rough  stone  that  is  verily 
an  uncut  diamond. 

One  day  at  noon  Jesus  sat  tired  and  thirsty  on  the  stone 
curb  of  Jacobs  well.  A  Samaritan  woman  came  to  draw 
water,  and  the  well  furnished  the  text  and  the  woman  the 
audience  for  one  of  Christ’s  greatest  sermons.  A  well  is 
one  of  the  most  useful  and  delightful  things  in  the  world. 
We  look  down  into  its  cool  mossy  depths  and  see  a  pool  of 
crystal  water,  the  most  beautiful  liquid  in  the  world,  and 
that  well  is  a  center  and  source  of  blessing  to  all  around  it. 
With  such  a  text  in  the  hands  of  Jesus  we  may  expect  a 
discourse  of  extraordinary  richness  and  power,  for  with 
him  the  simplest  and  most  familiar  thing  became  sugges¬ 
tive  and  eloquent  of  spiritual  truth. 

Jesus  opened  the  conversation  with  delicate  tact  by  ask¬ 
ing  the  woman  for  a  drink  of  water.  The  woman  ex¬ 
pressed  surprise  that  a  Jew  would  ask  a  favor  of  a  Sama¬ 
ritan,  for  they  were  of  different  races  and  religious  denom¬ 
inations,  and  narrow  minds  and  bigoted  sectarians  think 
they  should  have  no  dealings  with  people  from  whom  they 
differ.  The  woman’s  question  opened  a  fine  opportunity 
for  a  controversy,  but  Jesus  passed  it  by  in  silence,  for 
had  he  followed  up  her  question  he  would  simply  have 
stirred  up  her  race  prejudice  and  partisan  zeal,  and  the 
beginning  of  controversy  is  usually  the  end  of  edification. 
Jesus  said  nothing  directly  on  the  subject  of  their  racial 
and  religious  separation,  and  yet  he  reached  it  indirectly 
and  in  the  end  closed  up  this  gap. 

Jesus  answered  the  woman  that  if  she  knew  the  gift  of 
God  she  would  ask  of  him  and  receive  living  water.  The 
woman,  like  Nicodemus,  misunderstood  him  and  supposed 
he  was  speaking  of  earthly  water.  She  was  surprised  and 
perplexed  that  a  travel-stained  Jew,  who  had  just  himself 
asked  for  a  drink,  should  have  living  water.  He  further 
explained  his  water  as  springing  from  a  well  within  the 
heart  as  the  water  of  eternal  life. 

Jesus  had  now  reached  the  point  where  he  could  go  no 


150  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

further  without  making  her  conscious  of  her  deepest  need, 
and  he  suddenly  thrust  a  sword  into  her  heart  exposing 
her  guilty  secret.  Christ  cannot  go  far  with  us  until  he 
touches  some  sore  spot  in  our  lives.  The  probe  must  pre¬ 
cede  the  cure.  Christ  must  know  all  about  us  in  order  to 
heal  us,  and  our  secret  sins  must  be  brought  to  light  and 
be  cleansed  away  before  his  spirit  can  dwell  in  us. 

The  conversation  was  now  growing  uncomfortably  close 
and  searching,  and  the  woman  may  have  thought  it  was 
time  to  change  the  subject;  besides,  she  thought  she  saw 
a  chance  to  have  a  fierce  denominational  dispute  between 
the  Samaritans  and  Jews  decided.  The  burning  point  of 
this  dispute  was  the  place  of  worship  and  Jerusalem  and 
Gerizim  were  crowned  with  rival  temples,  and  altar  flamed 
defiance  at  altar.  The  woman  submitted  to  Jesus  the 
question  of  which  was  the  true  place  of  worship  and  pos¬ 
sibly  waited  for  an  answer  that  she  hoped  would  give  her 
own  mountain  a  triumphant  vindication. 

What  did  Jesus  answer?  As  he  was  himself  a  Jew,  and 
all  his  patriotic  and  religious  associations  centered  in 
Jerusalem,  would  he  not  now  declare  his  own  holy  city 
to  be  the  only  true  place  of  worship  and  brand  the  Sa¬ 
maritan  temple  as  heretical  and  idolatrous?  He  did 
nothing  of  the  kind,  but  gave  an  answer  that  was  equally 
startling  and  disappointing,  revolutionary  and  tragical  to 
both  Jews  and  Samaritans.  “The  hour  cometh,  when 
neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem,  shall  ye 
worship  the  Father.”  He  delivered  the  grandest  dis¬ 
course  ever  uttered  on  the  universality  and  spirituality  of 
worship.  He  showed  that  worship  is  not  a  matter  of 
mountains  and  temples,  but  of  heart  and  spirit.  He  wiped 
Jerusalem  off  the  map  as  an  exclusive  center  of  worship 
and  set  worship  free  and  diffused  it  around  the  world  as 
a  universal  privilege. 

In  this  answer  he  refused  to  take  either  side  of  the  de¬ 
nominational  dispute  and  virtually  swept  both  sides  away 
with  a  broader  principle.  Jesus  today  is  not  interested  in 
our  little  sectarian  controversies  and  wants  us  to  get  away 
from  them  to  great  things  and  broader  principles.  If  he 
were  to  deliver  his  decision  upon  many  of  these  theological 
disputes,  his  judgment  might  bring  disappointment  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


151 


consternation  to  all  sectarians.  God  is  spirit,  and  place 
and  technicality  and  form  count  for  little  with  him.  He 
looks  at  the  worshiper,  not  at  the  place  of  worship.  Wor¬ 
ship  is  not  like  some  rare  plant  that  grows  only  on  some 
solitary  mountaintop,  but  it  is  like  grass  that  grows  all 
over  the  world.  If  we  lift  our  eyes  to  the  grand  mountain 
of  worship,  we  shall  lose  sight  of  the  little  divisive  ravines 
that  lie  around  our  feet.  Such  worshipers  the  Father 
seeks. 

The  woman  had  now  grown  more  modest  and  teachable 
and  Jesus  perceived  that  the  moment  for  his  self-revelation 
had  come.  She  spoke  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  and 
with  simple  truth  and  dignity  he  said,  “I  that  speak  unto 
thee  am  he.”  This  was  Christ’s  first  and  clearest  declara¬ 
tion  of  his  Messiahship.  There  was  no  self-conscious  van¬ 
ity  in  this  announcement,  as  it  was  the  truth  and  it  was 
needful  that  it  should  be  known.  It  is  not  impertinence 
in  the  sun  that  it  lets  its  light  shine. 

The  woman  went  into  the  village  proclaiming  her 
Saviour:  she  had  found  her  way  from  Jacob’s  well  to  the 
well  of  salvation;  she  went  for  the  water  of  earth  and 
found  the  water  of  heaven. 


CHAPTER  IV 


SECOND  YEAR:  THE  GALILEAN  MINISTRY 
THE  YEAR  OF  POPULARITY 

From  Sychar  Jesus  with  his  disciples  proceeded  to 
Galilee  where  he  carried  on  his  Galilean  ministry  from 
December,  27,  to  December,  28,  these  years  and  months  be¬ 
ing  only  approximately  correct  but  sufficiently  near  the 
truth  for  practical  purposes. 

It  was  the  year  of  the  increasing  popularity  of  Jesus, 
for  his  teaching  found  a  more  congenial  soil  and  a  readier 
reception  in  the  rural  and  industrial  region  of  Galilee 
than  among  the  aristocratic  classes  and  the  proud  eccle¬ 
siastical  hierarchy  of  Jerusalem. 

On  arriving  in  Galilee  Jesus  began  “  preaching  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  saying,  The  time  is 
fulfilled,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand:  repent  ye, 
and  believe  the  gospel’ ’  (Mark  1:14-15).  This  was  his 
first  announcement  of  his  mission  and  it  continued  to  be 
his  central  message  to  the  end.  He  came  to  establish  “the 
kingdom  of  God,”  not  a  racial  or  national  movement  but 
a  worldwide  institution.  The  kingdom  fills  a  large  place 
in  his  teaching,  the  term  occurring  about  one  hundred  and 
ten  times  in  the  Gospels,  while  the  church  is  mentioned 
only  twice. 

The  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  was  familiar  enough 
among  the  Jews,  as  it  runs  through  the  Old  Testament, 
though  in  the  days  of  Jesus  it  had  become  mixed  and 
clouded  with  apocalyptic  elements.  The  kingdom  of  God 
is  the  rule  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  men.  It  has  no  geo¬ 
graphical  domain  or  boundaries  and  no  physical  equipment 
in  the  way  of  capitals  and  parliament  and  armies,  its  glory 
consists  not  in  pageantry  and  pomp,  and  its  weapons  are 
not  carnal,  but  it  is  a  spiritual  fabric  and  state  that  exists 

m 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  153 

wherever  and  in  whatever  degree  men  love  God  and  have 
the  spirit  of  heaven. 

The  first  step  that  Jesus  urged  men  to  take  into  the 
kingdom  was,  “Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel.” 
“Change  your  mind,”  as  the  Greek  word  translated  “re¬ 
pent”  means,  is  what  he  commanded  men  to  do,  a  ra¬ 
tional  and  voluntary  act  which  we  can  do.  Such  an  act 
involves  a  sufficient  reason  as  its  motive,  and  this  is  found 
in  “the  gospel  of  the  kingdom”  which  is  good  news  great 
and  joyful  enough  to  convince  and  move  the  mind  and 
heart  with  positive  decision  and  earnest  enthusiasm.  The 
whole  teaching  of  Jesus  revolved  around  this  worthy  and 
weighty  message  and  motive,  and  all  the  doctrines  and 
deeds  of  his  ministry  run  from  this  center  as  radii  out  to 
the  full  circumference  of  the  Christian  life  and  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  the  world. 

After  an  incidental  work  of  healing  a  nobleman’s  son 
at  Cana  (John  4:46-54),  Jesus  proceeded  to  Nazareth 
where  he  opened  his  public  ministry  in  Galilee. 

1.  A  Prophet  Driven  Out  of  His  Own  Town 

Luke  4 : 16-30 

Nazareth  was  a  specially  difficult  place  for  Jesus  to  be¬ 
gin  his  ministry,  his  home  town  where  he  had  lived  for 
nearly  thirty  years  and  was  familiarly  known  as  the  vil¬ 
lage  carpenter.  Only  about  a  year  before  he  had  closed 
his  shop  and  gone  south  into  Judea,  whence  marvelous 
stories  had  presently  floated  back  on  the  tide  of  returning 
pilgrims  of  his  cleansing  the  temple  and  working  miracles 
and  appearing  as  the  Messiah.  His  arrival  in  his  own 
home  would  set  all  tongues  gossiping  and  create  a  tremen¬ 
dous  sensation  in  the  sleepy  old  town. 

He  was  to  preach  his  first  sermon  in  the  village  syna¬ 
gogue  in  which  he  had  worshiped  from  childhood.  The 
people  had  known  him  from  boyhood  and  he  knew  them. 
As  he  stood  before  them  he  looked  into  the  faces  of  his 
friends  and  neighbors,  of  his  former  companions,  of  his 
mother  and  brothers.  We  may  suppose  that  he  rose  to 
preach  with  the  usual  diffidence  and  embarrassment  of  a 
young  minister  rising  to  preach  his  first  serinon  in  his 


154 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


home  church  before  his  relatives  and  friends.  Doubtless 
Mary  had  a  mother’s  pride  in  her  son.  Jesus  felt  the  deli¬ 
cacy  and  knew  the  danger  of  the  situation,  but  he  began 
his  ministry  at  home,  where  every  one’s  duty  begins. 

It  is  instructive  to  notice  how  Jesus  spent  this  Sabbath 
day.  “He  entered,  as  his  custom  was,  into  the  synagogue 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  for  to  read.  ’  ’  He  went  to 
church  according  to  his  habit,  not  according  to  the  weather 
or  his  wardrobe,  but  according  to  the  calendar  and  the 
clock.  There  were  doubtless  things  there  that  did  not  suit 
him.  The  preaching  was  unprofitable,  intolerably  dry  and 
dreary,  and  the  whole  service  was  formal  and  lifeless  and 
uncongenial  to  a  true  worshiper.  The  Jewish  synagogue 
was  a  poor  church,  yet  Jesus  “entered  as  his  custom  was.” 
He  did  not  insist  on  having  an  ideal  church  or  none.  We 
should  not  be  too  sensitive  and  critical  about  the  syna¬ 
gogue  we  attend.  The  preaching  may  not  be  to  our  taste 
and  the  prayer  meeting  seem  hopelessly  dull,  but  if  on  ac¬ 
count  of  these  things  we  stay  away  from  church  we  cannot 
quote  the  example  and  sanction  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Jesus  not  only  attended  but  he  also  took  part  in  the 
service,  not  coming  simply  to  receive  from  it  but  also  to 
contribute  to  it  and  thereby  add  to  its  interest  and  profit. 
He  chose  his  first  text  from  the  prophet  Isaiah.  Having 
read  the  passage  (stopping  the  quotation  at  a  significant 
point),  he  handed  the  roll  of  Scripture  to  the  minister 
and  sat  down,  according  to  the  custom,  to  speak.  All  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  him,  and  a  breathless  hush  fell  upon  the 
congregation. 

Only  a  single  sentence  of  the  sermon  is  recorded,  its  in¬ 
troductory  words:  “Today  hath  this  scripture  been  ful¬ 
filled  in  your  ears.”  This  introduction  is  short  and  goes 
straight  to  the  mark.  It  is  not  one  of  those  long  prosy 
introductions  that  give  one  a  tired  feeling  before  any 
point  is  reached,  but  it  leaps  right  into  the  heart  of  the 
subject.  It  illuminates  the  text  with  a  flash  of  light;  it 
gives  an  ancient  truth  a  modern  application ;  and  it  puts 
Jesus  himself  in  the  focus  of  the  Old  Testament  and  con¬ 
verges  all  its  rays  on  him  as  their  burning  center.  We 
could  wish  that  more  of  this  sermon  had  been  preserved, 
but  we  are  fortunate  in  having  its  text,  for  it  is  one  of  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


155 


richest  Messianic  passages  in  the  Bible,  striking  all  the 
chords  of  Christ’s  ministry  and  full  of  the  music  of  the 
gospel. 

How  was  the  sermon  received?  “All  bare  him  witness, 
and  wondered  at  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out 
of  his  mouth.”  This  promises  well  for  the  congregation, 
showing  that  it  was  an  attentive  audience,  and  a  good  ser¬ 
mon  depends  almost  as  much  upon  good  hearing  as  upon 
good  preaching.  Yet  there  is  something  suspicious  in  the 
word  “wondered.”  It  suggests  mere  admiration  for  rhet¬ 
oric  and  elocution,  interest  in  the  manner  rather  than  the 
matter  of  the  sermon. 

The  next  suspicious  point  in  the  reception  of  this  sermon 
is  criticism  of  the  preacher.  They  said,  “Is  not  this  Jo¬ 
seph’s  son?”  Appreciation  quickly  turned  to  depreci¬ 
ation.  They  began  to  judge  the  preacher  by  his  parent¬ 
age,  they  compared  his  profession  of  Messiahship  with  his 
pedigree  and  said  the  two  did  not  match.  Because  they 
knew  him  so  well  as  one  of  themselves,  they  thought  he 
could  not  amount  to  anything. 

The  next  point  in  the  reception  of  the  sermon  was  the 
demand  for  a  miracle,  that  he  would  work  wonders  for 
their  gratification  as  he  had  done  elsewhere.  They  wanted 
to  reduce  him  to  the  level  of  a  sleight-of-hand  performer. 
Jesus  proceeded  to  prove  to  them  from  their  own  Scrip¬ 
tures  that  if  they  did  not  receive  the  truth,  God  would 
send  it  elsewhere. 

This  was  too  much  for  their  bigotry  and  pride,  and  the 
worshiping  congregation  suddenly  became  an  infuriated 
mob  and  hurried  the  preacher  off  to  a  cliff  that  they  might 
hurl  him  down  to  death.  If  we  do  not  like  the  preaching, 
let  us  fly  mad  at  the  preacher!  If  the  divine  message 
strikes  our  pride,  let  us  strike  back  at  the  human  mes¬ 
senger.  If  we  cannot  throw  him  down  a  cliff,  perhaps 
we  can  throw  him  out  of  his  pulpit;  and  if  we  cannot 
break  his  head,  we  may  at  least  break  his  heart. 

Still  the  matter  is  not  so  easily  ended.  We  may  kill 
the  messenger,  but  we  cannot  kill  the  message.  Truth  is 
immortal,  and  after  we  think  we  have  slain  it,  it  still  lives 
to  confront  us.  Silencing  man  does  not  silence  God.  And 
even  the  persecuted  preacher  shall  not  be  forgotten  of 


156 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


heaven,  for  Jesus,  protected  by  his  own  divine  majesty 
from  the  murderous  mob,  “  passing  through  the  midst  of 
them,  went  his  way.” 

2.  Preaching  and  Fishing  at  Lake  Galilee 
Matthew  4  :18-22;  Mark  1:16-20;  Luke  5:1-11 

From  Nazareth  Jesus  went  to  Capernaum  which  he 
now  made  his  headquarters  during  his  Galilean  ministry. 
Although  the  people  of  his  own  town  rejected  him  and  tried 
to  hurl  him  down  a  cliff,  yet  the  people  of  the  next  town 
he  entered  were  eager  to  receive  him.  A  man  may  fail  in 
one  place  and  succeed  in  another. 

Walking  by  the  lakeside  Jesus  saw  the  two  brothers, 
Peter  and  Andrew,  and  a  little  farther  along  the  shore  he 
found  the  other  two  brothers,  James  and  John.  He  had 
received  these  four  men  down  in  Judea  as  his  converts 
and  followers,  but  now  he  gave  them  a  formal  call  into  his 
ministry,  saying  unto  them,  “Come  ye  after  me,  and  I 
will  make  you  to  become  fishers  of  men.”  These  brothers 
thus  transformed  their  business  into  Christ’s  business. 
The  same  powers  and  attainments  of  mind  and  body, 
knowledge  of  business,  skill  in  the  use  of  means,  concen¬ 
tration  and  earnestness  of  purpose,  that  were  used  in  the 
old  service  were  now  to  be  thrown  into  the  new  service. 
Jesus  did  not  condemn  their  business,  but  he  endorsed  it 
and  lifted  it  to  a  higher  sphere;  and  he  thus  transmutes 
every  calling. 

And  these  first  four  disciples  “straightway  left  their 
nets  and  followed  him.”  They  did  not  claim  that  busi¬ 
ness  must  be  attended  to  first  and  religion  afterward ;  they 
did  not  plead  for  delay  and  tell  Jesus  that,  after  the  fish¬ 
ing  season  was  over,  he  would  hear  from  them;  but 
straightway  they  followed.  Faith  instantly  leaped  into 
fact,  conscience  became  conduct  and  love  became  life.  It 
was  the  short  sharp  action  of  this  “straightway”  that 
saved  these  fishermen  and  at  last  made  them  such  strong 
men. 

And  they  “left  their  nets”  behind  when  they  followed 
Jesus.  They  were  not  so  deeply  enmeshed  in  those  nets 
that  they  could  not  free  themselves  from  them.  They  did 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


157 


not  try  to  bring  their  boats  into  Christ’s  business.  In 
entering  the  new  life  they  cut  loose  from  the  old  life.  Too 
many  Christians  are  still  tangled  up  in  their  old  fishing 
nets.  Let  us  leave  boats  and  nets  behind.  We  cannot 
serve  God  and  Mammon  and  in  a  profound  sense  must 
leave  all  to  follow  Christ. 

A  great  crowd  was  soon  gathered  around  Jesus  and 
pressed  upon  him  so  that  he  extemporized  a  pulpit  from  a 
fishing  boat  lying  near  by,  and  from  its  deck  faced  a  vast 
audience  filling  the  amphitheater  of  the  shore.  The  great 
Teacher  knew  how  to  adapt  himself  to  every  emergency. 
Doubtless  his  unconventionality  shocked  some  of  the  Phar¬ 
isees  and  high  ritualists  who  thought  his  conducting  a  re¬ 
ligious  service  in  the  open  air  from  an  ill-smelling  fishing 
boat  was  coarse  sacrilege.  But  Jesus  was  practicing  the 
great  truth  he  announced  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  that 
worship  is  not  a  matter  of  place  and  form  but  of  the 
spirit  and  may  be  offered  anywhere.  The  world  is  God’s 
great  temple  and  he  may  be  worshiped  on  any  shore  or 
street.  A  camp  meeting  in  a  field  or  forest  may  burn 
with  holy  fire  that  may  be  lacking  in  a  stately  cathedral. 

The  sermon  is  not  recorded,  but  at  its  close  Jesus  bade 
the  disciples  launch  the  boat  out  into  the  deep  and  let 
down  the  nets  for  a  catch  of  fish.  The  Master  thus  com¬ 
bined  fishing  with  preaching,  business  with  religion.  He 
was  a  practical  man  and  knew  how  to  build  a  house,  han¬ 
dle  a  boat  and  catch  fish.  Yet  he  was  as  truly  teaching 
spiritual  truth  when  fishing  as  when  preaching,  for  with 
him  worship  and  work  were  fused  into  one  life  and  made 
one  music. 

Peter  interposed  his  doubt  and  objection,  “Master,  we 
have  toiled  all  the  night,  and  have  taken  nothing.”  This 
was  as  much  as  to  say,  “We  old  experienced  fishermen 
have  just  tried  that  place  and  know  there  is  nothing 
there.”  Peter  thought  he  knew  what  he  was  talking  about. 
He  knew  that  lake,  had  been  brought  up  on  its  blue  wa¬ 
ters,  had  fished  it  from  shore  to  shore,  knew  all  its  deeps 
and  shallows,  and  could  tell  just  where  and  when  to  cast 
the  nets.  Jesus  was  a  young  man  from  back  in  the  coun¬ 
try  who  had  had  no  experience  on  the  lake.  Is  it  any  won¬ 
der  that  Peter  put  his  judgment  up  against  that  of  Jesus  1 


158 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Certain  it  is  that  at  times  we  are  in  this  same  blind  and 
foolish  state  of  mind. 

We  are  close  to  Peter’s  thought  when  we  think  our  place 
of  work  contains  nothing  of  use  and  interest.  We  see 
others  pulling  up  their  big-bellied  nets  swollen  with  fish, 
but  we  think  the  waters  under  our  boat  are  empty.  We 
are  sure  we  also  wTould  do  splendidly  if  we  were  only 
somewhere  else.  So  strong  is  this  feeling  in  us  at  times 
that  we  are  almost  ready  to  put  our  opinions  and  expe¬ 
rience  up  against  the  command  of  Christ  and  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God! 

Such  was  Peter’s  doubt;  what,  now,  was  his  action? 
“Nevertheless,  at  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net.”  This 
is  a  saving  and  beautiful  ‘  ‘  nevertheless.  ’  ’  Peter  was  wrong 
in  his  thought,  but  he  was  grandly  right  in  his  action. 
His  creed  was  faulty,  but  his  deed  was  beautiful. 

And  what  was  the  result  when  the  nets  were  drawn  up  ? 
Never_had  there  been  such  a  catch  on  that  lake.  It  broke 
all  records.  Instantly  all  was  intense  excitement  and  ac¬ 
tivity  in  the  boat.  Another  boat  was  called  and  both  boats 
were  loaded  to  the  water’s  edge.  If  we  will  only  fish  our 
pool  patiently,  prayerfully,  persistently,  our  nets  may  at 
length  come  up  swollen  with  blessing  so  that  there  will  not 
be  room  to  receive  it. 

Jesus  now  turned  the  miracle  into  a  parable.  “Fear 
not,”  he  said  unto  Peter;  “from  henceforth  thou  shalt 
catch  men.”  The  world  is  our  sea,  and  the  gospel  is  our 
net  and  line  with  which  we  are  to  catch  men.  Many  of  the 
arts  of  the  fisherman  apply  to  this  work  and  we  should 
study  and  practice  them  that  we  may  use  them  skilfully 
and  successfully. 

Thus  ended  the  first  day’s  work  on  the  shore  of  the  lake 
that  has  been  made  forever  memorable  and  blessed  by  the 
footprints  of  Jesus. 

Clear  silver  water  in  a  cup  of  gold, 

It  shines — his  lake — the  sea  of  Chinnereth, 

The  waves  he  loved,  the  waves  that  kissed  his  feet, 

So  many  blessed  days. 

3.  A  Busy  Day  in  Capernaum 
Matthew  8 : 14-17 ;  Mark  2 :  21-34 ;  Luke  4 :  31-41 

The  choosing  of  the  four  disciples  and  the  fishing  on  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


159 


lake  was  followed  by  a  busy  Sabbath  day  in  Capernaum  in 
which  we  see  Jesus  at  work. 

Straightway  he  entered  into  the  synagogue ;  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  he  went  to  church.  Jesus  honored  the  synagogue  as 
his  Father’s  house  and  attended  its  service  for  worship. 
Though  himself  Lord  of  the  sanctuary,  yet  he  was  also 
a  worshiper  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord.  The  church  is 
the  school  of  our  higher  life.  Here  we  become  conscious 
of  our  deepest  needs;  here  sin  is  seen  in  its  guilt  and 
vileness  and  bondage,  and  holiness  in  its  purity  and 
beauty  and  blessedness;  and  here  is  revealed  and  offered 
to  us  the  great  gospel  of  mercy  and  love  by  which  we  are 
saved. 

All  the  questions  of  life  are  illuminated  in  the  house  of 
God.  We  do  not  see  any  subject  truly  in  all  its  connec¬ 
tions  and  consequences  until  we  see  it  in  a  religious  light, 
from  God’s  point  of  view.  The  church  stands  for  our 
spiritual  life,  pointing  its  spire  towards  the  sky,  a  finger 
feeling  after  the  Infinite.  But  may  we  not  be  religious 
without  the  church?  Jesus  did  not  think  so:  “ Straight¬ 
way  on  the  Sabbath  day  he  entered  into  the  synagogue.” 
The  church  has  its  faults  and  failures,  but  it  is  still  the 
divine  means  of  our  spiritual  life  and  we  should  use  it 
faithfully  and  seek  to  improve  it. 

And  being  in  the  synagogue  Jesus  taught.  The  syna¬ 
gogue  service  was  social  worship,  like  our  prayer  meeting, 
in  which  the  people  were  free  to  take  part.  Jesus  was  not 
a  mere  passive  listener,  much  less  a  critical  faultfinder, 
but  he  expounded  the  Scripture  and  proclaimed  the  gospel 
of  good  news. 

The  people  were  astonished  at  his  teaching,  as  well  as 
they  might  be,  for  both  matter  and  manner  were  a  great 
and  welcome  change  to  them.  They  had  been  bored  to  death 
by  the  scribes.  These  fosilized  ecclesiastics  were  droning 
away  over  hairsplitting  questions  of  orthodoxy  that  were 
not  of  the  least  human  interest  or  use  and  were  repeating 
with  interminable  prolixity  the  traditional  sayings  of  the 
rabbis.  Across  this  dry  parched  wilderness  of  rabbinical 
lore  came  the  simple  charming  teachings  of  Jesus  like  a 
refreshing  breeze  and  shower  of  rain.  The  people  knew 
what  he  was  talking  about  and  were  surprised  that  it  took 
hold  of  them  with  fascinating  interest  and  power.  Noth- 


160 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


mg  else  is  so  interesting  as  religion  when  it  is  properly 
presented,  and  it  is  by  far  the  most  popular  subject  in  the 
world  today. 

The  people  were  astonished  at  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  for 
he  taught  them  as  one  that  had  authority  and  not  as  the 
scribes.  The  authority  of  Jesus  consisted,  not  in  any  dog¬ 
matic  claims  and  dictatorial  air,  but  in  his  spirit  of  trans¬ 
parent  self-evident  truth,  sincerity  and  earnestness.  He 
spoke  that  he  did  know  and  testified  that  he  had  seen, 
and  candid  minds  could  not  help  but  believe  his  witness. 
When  one’s  religious  faith  is  the  very  core  of  his  heart, 
so  that  it  is,  in  the  words  of  Carlyle,  “the  thing  a  man 
does  practically  lay  to  heart  and  know  for  certain,  con¬ 
cerning  his  vital  relations  to  this  mysterious  Universe  and 
his  duty  and  destiny  therein,”  he  can  teach  in  the  church 
and  out  of  it  with  authority  and  power. 

The  service  was  interrupted  by  a  loud  cry  of  pain  and 
terror  from  a  man  in  the  congregation  possessed  of  an  un¬ 
clean  spirit.  Jesus  rebuked  the  evil  spirit,  saying,  “Hold 
thy  peace”  (literally,  “Be  muzzled,”  a  word  for  a  beast), 
“and  come  out  of  him.”  Then  the  spirit,  screaming  and 
tearing  the  unhappy  man  with  convulsions,  came  out  and 
left  the  man  calm  and  free.  A  murmur  of  excitement 
swept  over  the  congregation  as  many  exclaimed,  “What 
is  this?  A  new  teaching!  with  authority  he  commandeth 
even  unclean  spirits,  and  they  obey  him.”  The  Prince  of 
Light  has  power  over  spirits  of  darkness  and  at  his  bidding 
every  knee  shall  bow. 

“A  new  teaching!”  they  exclaimed.  Jesus  Christ,  then, 
was  himself  a  teacher  of  new  theology.  He  did  not  keep 
to  the  old  paths  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  but  boldly 
struck  out  into  new  paths.  He  revised  and  rewrote  the  re¬ 
ligious  creeds  of  his  day  and  started  this  process  of  ever 
bringing  religion  up  to  date  down  through  the  centuries. 
The  fundamental  principles  of  religion  do  not  change,  but 
our  understanding  and  application  of  them  do  advance. 
The  new  astronomy  interprets  the  same  heavens  as  the  old, 
but  in  a  truer  and  more  splendid  way.  It  is  the  same  old 
tree,  but  the  blossoms  are  new  every  spring.  It  is  the 
same  gospel  we  preach  from  age  to  age,  but  its  interpre¬ 
tation  and  application  are  ever  new.  Let  us  not  be  afraid 


OP  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  161 

of  new  theology  if  it  is  the  old  truth  interpreted  and  ap¬ 
plied  with  new  power. 

The  gospel  must  be  not  only  preached  but  also  applied. 
We  must  get  rid  of  the  notion  that  merely  sitting  in  a 
synagogue  is  religion.  Worship  must  make  war  on  wick¬ 
edness.  It  is  the  business  of  the  church  and  of  Christians 
to  cast  out  uncleanness  and  not  to  let  any  evil  spirit  alone. 

What  did  Jesus  do  next  on  this  Sabbath  day?  “And 
straightway,  when  they  were  come  out  of  the  synagogue, 
they  came  into  the  house  of  Simon  and  Andrew  with 
James  and  John.”  And  what  did  Jesus  do  there?  Just 
the  same  kind  of  work  he  did  in  the  synagogue :  he  healed 
Simon’s  wife’s  mother  of  a  fever;  he  blessed  that  home. 

We  do  not  see  much  of  the  home  life  of  Jesus ;  in  truth, 
he  had  no  home  nor  where  to  lay  his  head.  But  when  we 
do  find  him  in  a  home  we  always  see  it  made  better  by 
his  presence;  a  sin  is  forgiven,  a  dying  child  is  healed,  or 
comfort  and  cheer  are  given.  If  we  get  any  good  in  the 
church,  it  ought  to  show  itself  speedily  in  the  home.  Some 
sick  one  should  be  ministered  to  with  a  kinder  hand,  more 
patience  and  gentleness  should  mark  our  behavior,  beau¬ 
tiful  courtesies  should  be  more  abundant,  new  Christian 
graces  should  bloom  out  in  our  lives.  The  home  should 
be  sweeter  and  brighter  on  Monday  morning  because  we 
have  worshiped  in  the  church  on^  the  Sabbath  day. 

The  day  closed  with  a  wonderful  scene.  The  city  gath¬ 
ered  at  the  door  as  the  evening  shadows  fell  around  the 
house,  the  sick  were  brought  until  they  filled  the  street, 
and  Jesus  healed  them.  His  mercy,  that  in  the  morning 
manifested  itself  in  the  synagogue  and  in  the  afternoon 
flowed  into  the  home,  in  the  evening  overflowed  into  the 
street  and  filled  the  city.  The  stream  of  beneficence  once 
started  did  not  stay  its  flood  until  the  whole  city  had  been 
bathed  in  its  healing  tide.  The  love  of  God  is  expansive 
and  has  in  it  a  wideness  like  the  wideness  of  the  sea.  There 
is  no  danger  of  its  ever  running  short,  and  it  will  reach 
the  greatest  sinner  and  the  last  lost  child.  Having  wor¬ 
shiped  God  in  the  church,  we  should  go  everywhere,  touch¬ 
ing  men  with  healing  hands. 

Such  was  this  eventful  Sabbath  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  and 
it  is  a  pattern  for  our  Sabbath  days. 


162  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

4.  A  Missionary  Tour  through  Galilee 

Matt.  4 :23 ;  Mark  1 :35-45 ;  Luke  4 :42-44 ;  John  5 :12-16 

Jesus  could  not  stand  this  incessant  work  and  strenu¬ 
ous  life  without  relief  and  rest,  but  he  took  his  rest  in  a 
peculiar  way.  “And  in  the  morning,  rising  up  a  great 
while  before  day,  he  'went  out  into  a  solitary  place,  and 
there  prayed.  ”  He  sought  change  of  scene  by  seeking 
solitude  amidst  the  picturesque  scenery  of  the  lakeside 
that  he  might  engage  in  meditation  and  prayer.  He 
bathed  his  soul  in  nature  and  in  God.  Without  this  re¬ 
newal  of  his  own  inner  life  by  immersing  his  soul  in 
silence  and  communion,  his  spiritual  energies  would  have 
been  exhausted  and  run  dry.  He  must  fill  his  own  soul 
that  he  might  fill  others. 

Meditation  is  necessary  to  mastery  of  life.  We  must 
live  our  lives  inwardly  in  thought  before  we  can  live  them 
outwardly  in  action.  The  architect  thinks  his  building 
through  from  foundation  to  finish,  he  puts  it  all  up  in 
his  brain  before  he  puts  it  into  stone  and  steel,  and  if  we 
would  be  architects  and  artists  in  living  we  must  take 
time  to  get  ready,  grow  deep  roots  of  wisdom  and  strength 
in  meditation  and  prayer,  and  then  we  may  throw  our 
branches  out  and  bear  ripened  fruit  in  the  world. 

In  our  hurried  life  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  this  fine 
art  and  deep  means  of  enrichment  and  of  living  a  super¬ 
ficial  feverish  life  in  which  we  are  always  craving  for  a 
crowd  and  itching  for  a  new  thrill.  Deep  roots  hidden 
in  solitude  and  silence  will  cure  us  of  this  love  of  sensa¬ 
tionalism  with  its  high  blood  pressure  and  overweening 
worldliness  and  enable  us  to  live  a  sane  and  strong  and 
rich  life.  By  soaking  our  souls  in  meditation  and  prayer 
we  gather  strength  and  wisdom  to  do  the  work  and  bear 
the  burdens  and  fight  the  battles  of  life. 

Presently  the  disciples  found  Jesus  in  his  retreat  and 
summoned  him  to  service  with  the  announcement,  “All 
men  seek  for  thee.”  Jesus  was  now  supplying  something 
for  which  the  human  heart  hungered,  and  this  announce¬ 
ment  was  prophetic  of  the  great  yearning  of  humanity 
by  which  it  consciously  or  unconsciously  seeks  him. 

However  it  would  not  do  for  Jesus  to  confine  his  min- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


163 


istry  to  one  town,  and  so  he  proposed,  “Let  ns  go  into  the 
next  towns,  that  I  may  preach  there  also :  for  therefore 
came  I  forth.”  This  is  the  principle  of  home  missions 
and  foreign  missions.  Why  did  Jesns  not  just  settle  down 
and  stay  in  Capernaum?  That  lake  port  and  fishing  town 
was  not  all  converted  to  his  gospel  and  cleansed  and 
healed.  lie  had  scarcely  touched  the  fringe  of  its  disease 
and  wickedness  and  there  was  there  for  him  a  lifetime  of 
work.  Why  move  on  to  “the  next  towns”? 

This  is  precisely  the  argument  of  those  who  are  opposed 
to  home  missions  and  especially  to  foreign  missions.  We 
have  Christian  work  enough  to  do  in  our  own  town ;  let  us 
save  it  before  giving  our  time  and  money  to  save  other 
towns;  and  besides,  ought  they  not  to  look  after  them¬ 
selves?  Especially  does  this  argument  gi’ow  insistent  and 
clamant  when  it  comes  to  foreign  missions  and  pour  ridi¬ 
cule  on  the  visionary  scheme  of  sending  missionaries  to 
foreign  lands  when  we  have  so  much  heathenism  at  home. 

But  we  cannot  completely  evangelize  one  town  before 
we  go  into  the  next  towns  because  all  towns  are  woven  into 
one  web  in  their  interests  and  life,  and  the  spiritual  con¬ 
dition  of  one  necessarily  affects  the  condition  of  others. 
Even  business  understands  this  point  and  knows  that  one) 
town  cannot  permanently  prosper  with  other  towns  in 
financial  depression,  and  one  country  cannot  flourish  on 
the  poverty  and  ruin  of  other  countries.  If  the  people  of 
one  town  resolved  that  they  would  completely  evangelize 
their  own  town  before  they  would  help  evangelize  other 
towns,  they  would  thereby  doom  themselves  to  remain 
spiritually  crippled  and  withered;  their  very  plan  would 
be  selfish  and  defeat  itself.  The  last  state  of  such  a  town 
would  be  worse  than  the  first. 

On,  the  other  hand,  let  a  town  begin  to  think  of  the  wel¬ 
fare  of  “the  next  towns,”  and  its  own  welfare  will  be 
promoted  thereby;  its  unselfish  spirit  of  helping  other 
towns  will  invigorate  itself  and  hasten  its  own  evangeliza¬ 
tion.  So  also  foreign  missions  react  helpfully  on  home 
missions.  The  question  is  not  only  whether  the  heathen 
can  be  saved  without  us  but  also  whether  we  can  be  saved 
without  them. 

So  “Jesus  preached  throughout  all  Galilee,”  and  there- 


164 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


by  inaugurated  the  best  policy  of  evangelizing  even  Ca¬ 
pernaum  and  so  must  we,  to  have  the  gospel  at  home,  go 
with  it  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

We  are  given  an  instance  of  the  work  of  Jesus  on  this 
tour.  The  case  is  that  of  one  of  the  most  dreadful  mal¬ 
adies  to  which  human  flesh  is  heir.  Leprosy  is  an  intensely 
realistic  and  frightful  symbol  of  sin,  showing  outwardly 
in  rotting  limbs  what  sin  does  inwardly  in  the  soul.  A 
poor  fellow  came  to  Jesus,  exclaiming,  “If  thou  wilt,  thou 
canst  make  me  clean,”  and  a  touch  from  the  hand  of  Jesus 
gave  the  man  blessed  healing  and  relief.  Only  divine 
power  could  work  such  a  cure,  and  the  same  power  can 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness. 

Jesus  directed  the  cleansed  leper  to  tell  no  man,  but  go 
and  show  himself  to  the  priest,  so  as  to  get  a  certificate 
of  his  cured  condition  according  to  the  law  (Leviticus 
13-14)  and  to  offer  the  gift  Moses  commanded.  Jesus 
obeyed  the  law  in  all  points  and  therein  set  us  an  example. 

5.  Strange  Things 

Matthew  9:1-8;  Mark  2 : 1-12 ;  Luke  5 : 17-26 

Jesus  is  back  again  in  Capernaum  and  on  this  occasion 
was  preaching  in  a  house.  The  people  crowded  around  it, 
blocking  up  the  doors  and  the  very  street.  The  Pharisees 
and  scribes  were  now  beginning  to  have  their  suspicions 
aroused  about  the  orthodoxy  of  Jesus  and  they  sat  around 
him  cold  and  critical,  watching  their  chance  to  entrap 
him. 

Four  men  drew  near,  carrying  on  a  bed  a  helpless 
paralytic  whom  they  were  bringing  to  the  great  Healer. 
When  they  drew  near  and  found  the  way  blocked  up  by 
the  throng,  they  climbed  up  on  the  roof,  tore  a  hole 
through  the  light  thatch-work  and  let  their  man  right 
down  at  the  feet  of  the  great  Physician.  Jesus  forgave  the 
paralytic  his  sin  and  sent  him  home  carrying  the  very  bed 
that  had  carried  him. 

The  people  dispersed,  some  criticising  and  others  wonder¬ 
ing,  but  all  amazed,  saying,  “We  have  seen  strange  things 
today.”  What  had  they  seen? 

They  had  seen  strange  earnestness.  The  Pharisees  and 
priests  had  become  so  conventionalized  and  cold  in  their 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


165 


religion  that  all  the  heat  had  been  frozen  out  of  them  and 
they  showed  little  warmth  of  human,  sympathy  with  their 
fellowmen  in  distress.  The  four  men  that  came  bringing 
their  helpless  friend  on  a  bed  and  let  him  down  through 
the  roof  must  have  seemed  strangely  undignified  in  their 
zeal  to  these  high  ecclesiastics. 

The  four  friends,  however,  were  not  thinking  of  their 
own  dignity,  but  of  the  helplessness  of  their  neighbor  and 
their  consciousness  was  absorbed  in  him.  As  long  as  we 
are  thinking  of  our  own  comfort  and  interest  we  are  not 
likely  to  take  much  pains  to  help  others,  but  when  we  be¬ 
come  intensely  conscious  of  their  need  we  shall  cast  our 
own  dignity  to  the  winds. 

Another  strange  thing  seen  on  this  occasion  was  a  new 
method  of  religious  work.  The  ordinary  method  of  get¬ 
ting  a  man  to  a  physician  was  to  take  him  in  through  the 
door,  but  the  extraordinary  method  followed  on  this  oc¬ 
casion  as  to  take  him  up  on  top  of  the  house,  tear  a  hole 
through  the  roof,  and  let  him  down.  The  people  probably 
had  never  seen  this  done  before,  and  the  Pharisees  and 
scribes,  who  were  confined  in  their  methods  to  a  traditional 
ritual  which  could  not  be  infringed  upon  or  changed  to 
meet  any  emergency,  were  shocked  and  scandalized  at  the 
irreverence  of  the  method. 

We  should  ever  be  ready  and  apt  to  adopt  new  methods 
in  our  church  work  and  Christian  seryice.  We  are  in  dan¬ 
ger  of  becoming  so  wedded  to  the  old  ways  that  we  think 
they  cannot  be  changed  without  sacrilege.  The  history  of 
the  church  is  full  of  this  spirit,  and  petty  and  ridiculous 
have  been  many  little  variations  of  old  customs  that  have 
disturbed  and  even  divided  congregations  and  denomina¬ 
tions.  The  old  ways  may  have  been  good,  but  when  a  bet¬ 
ter  way  may  be  had  we  are  to  drop  the  old  and  use  the 
new. 

The  simple  principle  to  follow  is  that  of  highest  effi¬ 
ciency.  A  new  method  is  not  to  be  adopted  merely  be¬ 
cause  it  is  new.  If  these  four  men  could  have  got  their 
friend  in  through  the  door,  it  would  have  been  folly  for 
them  to  have  climbed  up  on  the  roof.  We  are  never  to 
tear  the  roof  off  simply  for  the  sake  of  doing  a  strange 
thing.  Ordinarily  let  us  come  in  through  the  door,  but 


166 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


when  a  man  is  to  be  healed,  if  needs  be  let  ns  come  down 
through  the  roof  even  though  it  creates  a  sensation  and 
people  say  it  is  a  strange  thing. 

A  third  strange  thing  the  people  saw  that  day  was  the 
discomfiture  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  The  Phar¬ 
isees  and  scribes  were  the  doctors  of  divinity  in  the  church. 
They  represented  authority  and  orthodoxy.  Any  depart¬ 
ure  from  their  traditions  was  a  dangerous  heresy  to  be 
put  down.  They  challenged  Jesus  with  the  startling  ques¬ 
tion,  “Who  is  this  that  speaketh  blasphemies?  Who  can 
forgive  sin,  but  God  alone  ?”  Intense  excitement  swept 
through  the  crowd.  The  Pharisees  had  Jesus  in  a  corner. 
He  had  been  caught,  so  to  speak,  in  the  very  act.  The 
church  now  had  him  in  its  grip  and  was  about  to  brand 
him  as  a  blasphemer.  His  hour  of  judgment  was  come. 

Sure  enough  if  was  come,  for  J esus  suddenly  turned  the 
tables  on  the  Pharisees  and  threw  them  into  confusion. 
As  proof  of  his  power  over  the  man’s  sin  he  showed  his 
power  over  his  body,  and  at  his  command  the  paralytic 
got  up  and  walked  off.  Then  the  people  were  amazed  at 
the  strange  thing.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  seeing 
the  Pharisees  having  everything  their  own  way,  with  no 
one  daring  to  utter  a  word  of  dissent.  But  here  they  were 
suddenly  discomfited  and  discredited  by  this  marvelous 
young  Teacher.  The  church  dignitaries  had  been  con¬ 
tradicted  and  refuted,  they  had  been  shown  up  as  stand¬ 
ing  in  the  very  way  of  salvation,  find  the  disclosure 
shocked  the  people  as  a  strange  thing. 

The  same  strange  thing  has  often  happened  and  may 
easily  happen  again.  We  reverence  the  church  as  a  source 
and  means  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  it  is  proper 
that  we  should.  We  expect  the  church  to  be  right,  and  it 
generally  is.  But  in  its  human  administration  and  on 
particular  points  and  occasions  it  may  be  wrong.  It  has 
sometimes  stood  in  the  way  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
Misguided  ecclesiastics  have  often  done  this  very  thing. 
We  are  not,  then,  to  worship  the  church  or  stand  up  for 
its  infallibility,  but  we  have  a  right  to  test  its  wisdom. 
The  Word  of  God  is  our  standard  and  Christ  is  our  only 
Master.  It  would  be  a  strange  thing  if  the  church  were 
not  sometimes  wrong. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


167 


6.  Jesus  at  the  Pool  of  Bethesda.  John  5. 

The  scene  shifts  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem  where  we 
find  Jesus  at  “a  feast,”  which,  according  to  the  view  we 
have  adopted,  was  probably  a  feast  of  Passover,  the  second 
which  he  attended  during  his  ministry.  These  feasts  were 
great  attractions  to  all  Jews,  and  Jesus  felt  this  attrac¬ 
tion,  and  these  visits  of  his  are  the  four  chief  milestones 
in  his  public  life. 

The  pool  of  Bethesda  was  probably  fed  by  a  mineral 
spring  possessed  of  curative  virtue.  By  the  side  of  this 
pool  “lay  a  great  multitude  of  impotent  folk,  of  blind, 
halt,  withered, 5  9  a  graphic  and  pitiful  picture  of  the  great 
world  itself,  which  is  a  vast  multitude  containing  every 
kind  and  degree  of  human  misery  and  sorrow.  But  in  the 
midst  of  this  world  there  is  a  “Bethesda”  or  House  of 
Mercy,  where  there  is  healing  for  all  the  diseases  of  sin. 
Out  of  this  throng  Jesus  picked  one  crippled  man  and 
gave  his  attention  to  him. 

This  is  an  instance  of  that  individual  work  in  which 
Jesus  mostly  engaged  and  by  which  he  achieved  the  best 
results.  It  is  comparatively  easy  for  us  to  look  on  the 
mass  of  impotent  folk  in  the  world  with  a  considerable  de¬ 
gree  of  compassion,  but  if  we  wish  to  do  something  prac¬ 
tical  we  will  have  to  pick  out  individual  cases  and  help 
them.  It  is  better  to  cure  one  crippled  soul  than  simply 
to  shed  tears  over  a  multitude. 

Jesus  approached  this  man  with  the  inquiry,  “Wilt  thou 
be  made  whole?”  Was  not  this  a  superfluous  and  even 
irritating  question?  What  was  the  man  lying  there  for, 
if  not  to  be  healed?  Nevertheless  the  question  was  not 
superfluous  but  was  just  the  one  that  needed  to  be  pressed 
sharply  into  the  man’s  consciousness  and  conscience.  He 
had  lain  there  so  long  and  so  helplessly  that  he  had  lost 
hope  and  had  become  reconciled  to  his  helplessness.  This 
is  the  fatality  that  falls  on  some  people :  they  sink  so  deep 
into  discouragement  that  they  think  there  is  no  hope  for 
them  and  refuse  to  do  anything.  The  first  thing  that  must 
happen  to  such  people  is  some  sharp  question  or  expe¬ 
rience  that  will  arouse  them  out  of  their  despair  and  drive 
them  to  do  something. 

The  infirm  man  expressed  this  hopeless  state  of  his  mind 


168 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


by  explaining  that  here  was  no  one  to  put  him  in  the 
pool;  “but  while  I  am  coming;”  he  said,  “another  step- 
peth  down  before  me.”  How  often  does  this  very  thing 
happen  to  us  in  this  world  ?  The  reason  why  it  is  so  hard 
for  us  to  get  some  good  things  is  that  so  many  others  are 
after  the  same  things  and  crowd  in  ahead  of  us. 

Jesus,  however,  overlooked  all  these  difficulties  and  com¬ 
manded  the  helpless  man,  “Rise,  take  up  thy  bed  and 
walk.  ’  ’  It  was  the  very  thing  he  could  not  do,  and  yet  he 
was  told  to  do  it.  God  is  often  calling  upon  us  to  do  what 
we  think  we  cannot  do,  but  his  command  is  our  warrant 
and  urgent  motive  to  try. 

This  command  dispensed  with  the  pool  and  came  right 
to  the  point  of  immediate  healing.  Christ  may  dispense 
with  the  priest  and  church  and  all  the  human  machinery 
of  salvation  and  come  right  into  the  soul  of  the  sinner  him¬ 
self.  Yet  the  command  gave  the  man  himself  something 
to  do.  “Rise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk.”  Every  word 
of  the  command  is  vibrant  with  a  stirring  call  to  action. 
Salvation  is  always  an  intensely  active  process  on  both  the 
divine  and  the  human  side:  neither  God  nor  man  can  sit 
still  while  it  is  going  on ;  both  must  rise  up  and  be  doing. 

“And  immediately  the  man  was  made  whole,  and  took 
up  his  bed  and  walked.”  So  quick  and  sure  is  deliverance 
from  the  bondage  of  sin  when  there  is  no  lost  motion  be¬ 
tween  the  divine  command  and  human  obedience. 

“And  on  the  same  day  was  the  Sabbath.”  What  does 
this  have  to  do  with  the  matter?  The  Jews  thought  it  had 
everything  to  do  with  it.  The  day  made  a  great  differ¬ 
ence  with  the  deed  in  their  theology.  And  they  had  got 
things  so  turned  around  and  upside  down  that  they  seemed 
to  think  that  the  better  the  day  the  worse  the  deed.  ‘  ‘  The 
Jews  therefore  said  unto  him  that  was  cured,  It  is  the  Sab¬ 
bath  day:  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  carry  thy  bed.”  They 
had  so  interpreted  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  (Exodus  23:12) 
and  spun  restrictions  of  their  own  devising  around  it  that 
its  blessing  had  become  a  curse.  The  extent  to  which  they 
had  carried  these  artificial  distinctions  and  prohibitions 
was  incredibly  senseless  and  ridiculous. 

This  mind  has  not  yet  altogether  disappeared  from 
among  religious  men.  Some  appear  to  think  that  it  is  more 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


169 


important  that  creeds  and  canons  should  be  meticulously 
kept  than  that  souls  should  be  saved.  This  healed  man 
was  guilty  of  the  dreadful  sin  of  carrying  his  bed  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  Pharisees  were  hot  after  him.  But  if 
we  have  the  word  of  Jesus  for  carrying  our  bed  we  need 
not  care  what  canon  we  violate  or  what  ecclesiastics  say 
or  think. 

The  healed  man  “wist  not  who  it  was”  that  had  healed 
him.  Many  receive  healing  touches  from  the  hand  of 
Jesus  who  know  him  but  dimly  or  not  at  all ;  for  his  heal¬ 
ing  virtue  is  diffused  widely  through  Christian  and  even 
through  heathen  lands,  and  millions  are  better  for  his 
presence  that  know  or  acknowledge  him  not. 

Jesus,  however,  found  the  man  and  followed  up  his 
healing:  “Behold,  thou  art  made  whole:  sin  no  more, 
lest  a  worse  thing  come  unto  thee.”  This  implies  that  he 
had  sinned  and  that  this  was  the  root  of  his  infirmity. 
“The  man  departed,  and  told  the  Jews  that  it  was  Jesi^s., 
which  had  made  him  whole.”  As  soon  as  he  knew  Jesus 
he  confessed  him,  and  this  is  ever  the  first  duty  of  the  for¬ 
given  and  saved  soul. 

This  work  of  healing  precipitated  the  conflict  between 
the  Jews  in  Jerusalem  and  Jesus  which  henceforth  grew 
in  hostility  until  it  reached  its  deadly  end.  Jesus  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  deliver  a  great  discourse  in  which  he  set  forth 
fundamental  truth  concerning  his  work  and  his  relations 
to  his  Father  and  convicted  the  Jews  of  fatal  unbelief. 

7.  The  Choosing  and  the  Mission  of  the  Twelve 

Disciples 

Matthew  10 :24 ;  Mark  3 :13-19 ;  Luke  6  :12 — 19 

On  his  return  to  Galilee  from  the  feast  at  Jerusalem 
Jesus  carried  on  his  work,  coming  into  conflict  with  the 
Pharisees  over  plucking  grain  in  a  wheatfield  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath  (Matthew  12:1-8),  healing  the  man  with  the  with¬ 
ered  hand  in  a  synagogue  (Matthew  12:9-14),  and  mak¬ 
ing  a  second  preaching  tour  through  Galilee  (Matthew 
12:15-21). 

His  work  was  now  growing  and  spreading  and  the  time 
had  come  to  call  men  to  enter  into  his  companionship  as 


170 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


disciples  that  they  might  be  trained  to  carry  on  his  work 
after  he  was  gone.  Spiritual  ideas  cannot  go  naked 
through  the  world  but  must  be  organized  in  an  institution 
with  leaders  to  serve  as  hands  and  feet,  hearts  and  brains 
to  perpetuate  these  ideas  and  ideals  and  give  them  con¬ 
crete  form  and  definite  application.  This  principle  is  seen 
in  all  social  organizations. 

Jesus  chose  twelve  men  to  enter  his  theological  semi¬ 
nary  to  be  under  his  personal  instruction  and  inspiration 
and  had  this  not  been  done  his  teachings  might  have  floated 
off  on  the  air  and  died  away.  The  choice  of  these  men 
was  the  beginning  of  the  organized  church  with  its  officers 
and  ordinances. 

A  list  of  the  disciples  is  given  and  we  scrutinize  the 
names  with  interest.  Some  of  these  men  had  been  called 
twice  before  (John  1  :  35-51 ;  Matt.  4  :l-22),  but  this  is 
their  final  call.  By  arranging  the  names  in  groups  of  four 
each,  it  is  easy  to  carry  them  in  memory.  Peter  always 
comes  first,  and  Judas  last.  There  are  two  and  possibly 
three  pairs  of  brothers  among  them. 

This  is  probably  the  most  important  list  of  names  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  These  men  were  given  a  work 
to  do  compared  with  which  winning  battles  and  founding 
empires  are  of  small  consequence.  They  were  to  let  loose 
a  force  that  was  to  pervade  all  empires  and  shape  all 
future  ages. 

Yet  they  were  not  great  men,  and  there  was  not  a  man 
of  genius  among  them.  They  were  plain  men  unlearned 
in  philosophy.  Not  one  of  them  belonged  to  the  priestly 
or  professional  class.  None  was  of  noble  birth,  but  all 
were  obscure  and  comparatively  poor.  At  least  four  of 
them  were  fishermen  and  some  of  these  were  expert  in  pro¬ 
fanity.  One  of  them  was  a  despised  tax  collector,  and  one 
was  a  zealot,  a  kind  of  anarchist  of  the  day.  One  always 
has  attached  to  his  name  the  dark  stigma,  li  which  also 
betrayed  him.” 

Jerusalem,  the  chosen  city  of  God  and  proud  university 
city  and  capital  of  the  country,  the  metropolis  where  were 
the  aristocracy  and  scholars  and  hierarchy  and  temple,  was 
not  permitted  to  put  one  name  in  this  immortal  list.  Verily 
not  many  wise,  not  many  noble,  not  many  mighty,  were 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  171 

called,  but  God  chose  the  foolish  to  confound  the  wise,  and 
the  weak  to  confound  the  mighty. 

Yet  these  men,  so  poorly  gifted  and  unlearned  and  weak 
in  themselves,  could  do  mighty  things  and  shake  and  re¬ 
shape  the  world  through  Christ  who  strengthened  them. 
The  very  simplicity  of  these  men,  unspoiled  by  human  phi¬ 
losophy,  made  them  unobstructed  channels  through  which 
the  grace  of  Christ  could  flow  in  the  fullest  measure. 

The  spirit  of  Jesus  touched  and  transformed  their  souls 
with  eternal  issues  and  made  them  great.  Often  has  God, 
in  choosing  men  for  great  visions  and  victories,  passed  by 
the  noble  and  rich  and  learned  and  found  humble  souls 
born  in  obscurity  and  breathed  into  them  his  Spirit  and 
told  them  first  the  message  he  sent  them  to  tell  the  world. 
The  charcoal  needs  only  a  rearrangement  of  its  atoms  to 
become  a  diamond.  The  rough  marble  block  needs  only 
the  sculptor’s  chisel  to  become  an  angel.  The  humblest 
men  have  in  them  divine  possibilities.  Any  human  soul 
needs  only  the  transforming  touch  of  Christ’s  spirit  to  be¬ 
come  forever  pure  and  beautiful. 

These  disciples  were  sent  forth.  They  were  with  Jesus, 
not  that  they  might  stay  with  him,  but  that  they  might 
receive  his  gospel  and  then  go  from  him,  carrying  the 
good  news  to  others. 

The  next  point  in  their  equipment  was  their  message. 
Jesus  appointed  them  that  “he  might  send  them  forth  to 
preach,  and  to  have  power  to  heal  sicknesses,  and  to  cast 
forth  devils.”  They  were  to  preach  the  good  news  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  their  message  was  to  be  illustrated 
with  works  of  healing.  The  gospel  in  their  hands  was  not 
to  be  a  mere  theory  but  a  practical  power.  Their  mission 
was  to  be  a  march  of  mercy  whose  monuments  would  be 
healed  men  and  saved  souls.  Part  of  this  work  has  now 
been  committed  to  physicians  who  are  specially  skilled  in 
it,  and  the  hospital  is  simply  an  annex  of  the  church. 
This  work  of  preaching  and  healing  is  now  going  on  in  opr 
modern  world  on  a  wider  scale  than  ever  before,  and  the 
gospel  is  proving  itself  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

The  next  point  in  their  commission  was  the  compensa¬ 
tion.  What  salary  were  these  disciples  to  receive?  “Freely 
ye  have  received,”  said  Jesus,  “freely  give.”  Receive  no 


172 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


money  for  God’s  grace,  turn  not  the  work  of  saving  the  lost 
into  an  unholy  traffic  for  gain.  This  admonition  was  spe¬ 
cially  needed  for  these  disciples  that  were  made  of  ordi¬ 
nary  human  nature  and  had  among  their  number  a  Judas 
Iscariot.  But  Jesus  Christ  did  not  come  into  the  world 
to  make  money  either  for  himself  or  for  his  disciples,  and 
at  the  beginning  he  laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  this  mer¬ 
cenary  spirit.  Few  things  are  so  ruinous  to  the  ministry 
as  an  instinct  for  money  and  the  love  of  personal  com¬ 
fort,  and  any  suspicion  of  self-interest  puts  a  blight  on 
Christian  service. 

Yet  because  the  disciples  were  to  make  no  charge  for  the 
grace  of  the  gospel  it  did  not  follow  that  they  were  to 
receive  nothing  for  their  support..  They  were  to  throw 
themselves  on  the  hospitality  of  the  people,  and  Jesus  also 
laid  it  down  as  a  fundamental  principle  that  the  laborer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire. 

Ministers  dare  not  charge  for  the  grace  of  God,  but 
they  ought  and  must  receive  proper  support  while  they 
are  administering  it.  Water  is  free  as  it  falls  out  of  the 
clouds  and  gushes  up  in  springs  and  flows  in  streams,  but 
it  costs  something  to  have  it  brought  in  pipes  into  our 
homes.  The  gospel  itself  is  free,  but  it  costs  money  to 
have  it  preached  in  our  churches  and  sent  out  along  mis¬ 
sionary  lines  into  the  world. 

8.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount — The  Beatitudes 
Matthew  5 : 1-12 ;  Luke  6 :  20-23. 

The  disciples  having  been  chosen,  the  next  step  was  to 
deliver  the  constitution  of  the  new  kingdom  and  announce 
its  program.  After  a  night  spent  in  prayer,  Jesus  with 
his  disciples  met  a  great  multitude  on  one  of  the  hills  back 
of  Capernaum,  and  from  that  lofty  pulpit  he  delivered  this 
sermon  that  has  gone  resounding  through  the  ages,  and 
after  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  has  lost  none  of  its 
sweetness  and  saving  power.  It  is  truly  a  mountain  ser¬ 
mon,  overtopping  all  human  teachings  and  breathing  the 
air  of  heaven.  It  sets  forth  the  spirit  and  the  outcome  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  though 
at  this  early  stage  it  does  not  fully  reveal  the  means  by 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


173 


which  this  is  attained.  The  world  has  not  yet  caught  up 
with  its  simplest  requirements.  Saturate  society  with  its 
spirit  and  the  world  would  be  washed  pure  and  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God  would  be  here.  One  day  filled  with  it  would 
be  a  bit  of  heaven. 

The  first  word  in  this  sermon  is  “blessed,”  and  this  is 
a  word  the  world  is  eager  to  hear ;  but  the  second  word  is 
“poor,”  and  this  seems  in  flat  contradiction  with  the  first 
and  is  a  word  the  world  does  not  want  to  have  mentioned. 
The  theory  of  the  world  was  and  is  that  the  blessed  are 
the  rich  and  satiated.  But  Jesus  reversed  this  and  de¬ 
clared  that  blessedness  has  its  root  in  a  sense  of  lack. 
Others  had  located  it  outside  in  worldly  possessions  and 
circumstances :  he  located  it  inside  in  the  heart.  The  poor 
in  spirit  are  those  that  realize  their  poverty  of  soul  with¬ 
out  righteousness  and  God ;  they  do  not  measure  their 
blessedness  by  outward  wealth  but  by  inward  worth ;  they 
have  that  humble  state  of  mind,  conscious  of  its  sin  and 
need,  that  makes  them  receptive  of  spiritual  blessings  and 
brings  them  into  fellowship  with  God. 

The  blessing  pronounced  upon  such  souls  is  that  theirs 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is  only  into  such  souls  that 
this  kingdom  can  come;  for  by  its  very  nature  it  is  shut 
out  of  hearts  full  of  self-satisfied  pride.  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  a  present  possession,  bringing  order  into  the 
soul,  subjecting  all  its  faculties  to  discipline  and  obedience, 
and  filling  it  with  heavenly  riches.  Such  a  kingdom  within 
the  soul  is  a  blessing  that  includes  all  good  things  and 
abides  amidst  all  the  disorder  and  distress  of  this  dis¬ 
jointed  world. 

The  next  beatitude  is  even  more  paradoxical  to  the 
worldly  mind.  “Blessed  are  they  that  mourn.”  This 
seems  to  shock  the  universal  human  heart,  for  in  every 
breast  it  shrinks  from  sorrow;  it  finds  its  blessing  in  the 
wine  of  gladness  and  counts  the  day  of  mourning  a  blighted 
day.  Yet  there  is  a  time  to  weep  as  well  as  a  time  to 
laugh,  and  mourning  may  be  a  bitter  root  that  will  bloom 
and  grow  into  the  fairest  blossoms  and  the  sweetest  fruits. 
As  long  as  there  is  unforgiven  sin  festering  in  the  heart 
there  is  cause  for  mourning  that  may  issue  in  purity  and 
peace. 


174 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


The  mourning  that  springs  from  loss  and  sorrow,  also 
may  have  in  it  a  root  of  blessing.  As  pearls  are  the  prod¬ 
uct  of  the  sufferings  of  the  shellfish,  so  the  finest  jewels 
of  human  character  are  crystallized  out  of  the  sorrows  of 
the  soul.  “Had  God  not  turned  us  in  his  hand  and  thrust 
our  high  hills  low,  we  had  not  been  this  splendor  and  our 
wrong  an  everlasting  music  for  the  song  of  heaven.” 

“Blessed  are  they  that  mourn:  for  they  shall  be  com¬ 
forted.”  Jesus  came  to  give  this  comfort.  He  picked  his 
steps  among  the  sinful  and  sorrowing,  and  to  all  such  his 
words  were  a  gracious  balm  and  his  touch  was  healing  and 
life. 

The  third  beatitude  pronounces  a  blessing  upon  the 
meek.  This  also  fell  as  a  strange  saying  upon  ancient  e&rs, 
for  in  that  age  meekness  was  contemned  as  weakness,  and 
might  was  worshiped  as  right.  The  Roman  especially  had 
small  respect  for  a  meek  spirit  and  gloried  in  gleaming 
steel  and  martial  might  that  could  crush  opposition  and 
he  trusted  to  his  good  short  sword  to  cut  his  way  to  power 
and  make  him  master  of  the  world.  But  /Jesus  bravely 
stood  up  in  that  world  bristling  with  spears  and  calmly 
said,  “Blessed  are  the  meek.”  This  Teacher  was  not  sub¬ 
ject  to  the  limitations  of  his  age  and  did  not  simply  repeat 
the  opinions  of  his  day,  but  he  was  a  Teacher  for  all  time 
and  uttered  eternal  truths. 

Meekness  is  humility,  gentleness  and  patience  of  dispo¬ 
sition.  It  is  not  puffed  up  with  conceit  and  ambition  and 
pride;  and  so  it  is  not  easily  irritated  and  inflamed,  of¬ 
fended  and  angered,  and  thus  thrown  into  a  fret  of  disap¬ 
pointment  and  a  frenzy  of  passion.  It  keeps  self-pos¬ 
sessed  and  cool  and  concentrates  all  its  powers  into  pure 
purposes.  Such  a  state  of  soul  is  in  itself  an  inner  foun¬ 
tain  ever  springing  up  in  rich  blessings. 

Not  only  was  this  beatitude  strange,  but  the  reason 
Jesus  gave  for  it  was  stranger  still :  “for  they  shall  inherit 
the  earth.”  How  can  this  be?  would  exclaim  the  Jewish 
patriot,  looking  for  an  armed  and  conquering  Messiah; 
and  with  what  scepticism  and  scorn  would  the  Roman  in 
his  polished  brass  and  glittering  steel  hear  this  prophecy? 
Yet  the  moral  evolution  of  the  world  is  more  and  more 
proving  that  meekness  is  might.  War  is  disappearing  be- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


175 


fore  the  peaceful  march  of  industry,  and  the  barbarity  of 
the  battlefield  will  yet  be  vanquished  by  brotherhood.  It 
is  not  the  most  warlike  nations  today  but  the  most  peace- 
loving  that  are  inheriting  the  earth.  Meekness  is  might 
when  it  has  just  cause  to  fight,  for  then  its  strength  is  as 
the  strength  of  ten  because  its  heart  is  pure. 

The  lowly  Nazarene,  who  with  legions  of  angels  at  his 
command  never  harmed  the  hair  of  a  human  being  and  did 
not  even  lift  his  hand  in  self-defence,  was  grandly  right, 
and  in  the  heart  of  that  warlike  age  here  laid  down  the 
foundation  of  ultimate  statesmanship  and  national  great¬ 
ness  as  well  as  of  individual  blessing. 

Other  beatitudes  step  into  this  line  and  it  grows  most 
paradoxical  of  all  at  its  very  end  when  persecution  takes 
its  place  in  the  procession  and  asks  us  to  believe  that 
it  brings  a  blessing. 

These  are  the  beatitudes  of  Jesus.  They  are  a  strange 
contradiction  to  the  maxims  of  this  world,  but  they  are 
heavenly  wisdom.  They  have  rough  shells  without,  but 
they  are  full  of  sweet  milk  within.  They  are  shunned  by 
the  worldly  mind  that  judges  and  is  deceived  by  outward 
appearances,  but  the  spiritual  mind  that  penetrates  to  their 
core  finds  they  are  the  eternal  laws  of  blessedness. 

9.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount — The  Lord's  Prayer 

Matthew  6 : 5-15 

Jesus  himself  prayed,  stood  so  close  to  God  that  he 
could  speak  with  him  face  to  face,  and  therefore  he  could 
teach  others  to  pray.  He  was  at  his  best,  if  we  may  so 
speak,  at  this  moment,  and  never  from  his  lips  issued 
grander,  sweeter  music  than  in  this  immortal  prayer. 

Prayer,  the  highest  and  finest  state  of  the  soul,  is  at¬ 
tended  with  some  of  the  deadliest  dangers,  as  around  snow¬ 
capped,  sky-bathed  mountaintops  sweep  the  fiercest  storms. 
One  of  these  dangers  is  that  of  turning  prayer  into  an  ac¬ 
tor's  performance.  The  Jews  observed  stated  hours  of 
prayer — morning,  noon  and  evening — and  these  hypocrites 
took  care  at  such  times  to  be  caught  at  some  public  place, 
such  as  a  street  corner,  where  they  could  strike  an  atti¬ 
tude  of  prayer  and  pose  and  perform  before  the  crowd. 


176 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


They  would  thus  put  on  prayer  as  an  actor’s  mask,  and 
then  with  furtive  glances  slyly  observe  how  their  piety 
was  impressing  the  public. 

That  kind  of  prayer  did  not  cease  to  be  performed  when 
the  last  Pharisee  with  his  broad  phylacteries  and  public 
attitudinizing  passed  out  of  the  world.  It  repeats  itself 
in  every  prayer  that  is  addressed  to  men  rather  than  to 
God.  “An  eloquent  prayer,”  of  which  we  sometimes 
read,  may  not  be  a  prayer  at  all,  but  only  an  eloquent 
performance. 

Vain  repetitions  are  another  danger  in  prayer  against 
which  Jesus  warned  his  hearers,  and  we  need  to  take  care 
that  our  prayers  do  not  degenerate  or  crystallize  into  set 
forms  which  are  only  mechanical  repetitions.  There  is  no 
objection  to  set  phrases  and  prescribed  forms — they  have 
their  place  and  use — provided  such  forms  are  kept  alive 
and  meaningful  with  the  devotional  spirit. 

The  Lord  of  prayer  now  taught  the  people  the  prayer 
of  the  Lord.  It  is  a  model  prayer  of  marvelous  simplicity 
and  comprehensiveness,  helpfulness  and  beauty.  The  sen¬ 
tences  are  short  and  the  words  are  the  plain  speech  of  the 
common  people.  There  is  not  one  theological  word  in  it. 
The  whole  prayer  contains  only  six  petitions  and  can  be 
slowly  uttered  in  less  than  half  a  minute.  How  startling 
the  contrast  with  many  a  prayer  in  the  pulpit  that  may 
stretch  its  repetitious  and  wearisome  length  out  to  half  an 
hour  and  even  more.  Yet  this  prayer  sweeps  heaven  and 
earth  in  its  range  and  grasp  and  leaves  out  no  good  thing. 
It  contains  the  roots  and  germs  of  all  worship  and  bless¬ 
ing. 

Its  first  word  strikes  the  keynote  of  Christian  faith  and 
theology.  More  than  any  other  word  the  name  Father  tells 
us  what  God  is,  showering  upon  us  the  most  charming 
memories  and  suggestions.  It  asserts  his  sovereignty  and 
power  and  wisdom,  and  also  his  care  and  mercy  and  love. 
“Hallowed  be  thy  name,”  is  the  first  petition.  We  might 
think  we  could  have  made  a  better  start.  Should  not  some 
pressing  human  need  have  been  put  in  the  conspicuous 
forefront  of  this  prayer?  But  it  begins  with  divine  inter¬ 
ests  and  looks  straight  away  from  human  needs. 

The  prayer,  however,  begins  at  the  right  point.  Right 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


177 


relation  with  God  is  the  central  condition  and  foundation 
of  all  blessings.  Reverence  is  the  root  of  all  virtues.  Un¬ 
less  God  be  respected,  the  human  soul  has  nothing  to  look 
up  to,  no  ideal  above  it,  no  authority  over  it. 

So  the  prayer  begins  and  moves  along  these  heavenly 
heights.  “  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth, 
as  it  is  in  heaven.  ”  Will  the  prayer  never  come  down  to 
our  human  needs  and  hear  our  human  cries?  It  is  the 
mountaintops,  however,  that  keep  the  valleys  green,  and 
the  sun  shining  above  us  that  makes  the  earth  blossom, 
and  all  our  blessings  come  from  above.  The  will  of  God 
is  the  supreme  blessing  for  us.  We  sometimes  think  of  his 
will  as  if  it  were  a  hard  fate  and  heavy  burden  for  us  to 
bear,  whereas  it  is  the  kindest  and  richest  and  most  beau¬ 
tiful  thing  that  can  happen  in  the  wprld  and  for  the 
world.  Nothing  else  could  be  half  so  welcome  to  us  as  the 
will  of  God  if  we  only  knew  the  depths  and  heights  of 
blessing  it  contains  and  will  bring. 

The  turning  point  of  the  prayer  is  at  last  reached.  ‘  ‘  Give 
us  this  clay  our  daily  bread.  ’  ’  The  prayer  suddenly  drops 
from  the  highest  spiritual  aspiration  to  the  lowest  physi¬ 
cal  need;  in  the  midst  of  the  holiest  longings  of  the  soul 
the  human  stomach  has  something  to  say.  All  the  material 
conditions  of  life,  bread,  health,  prosperity,  are  rightly 
the  subject  of  prayer.  Religion  covers  all  life  from  top 
to  bottom.  Yet  our  requests  for  our  material  life  should  be 
kept  within  modest  bounds  for  the  necessities  of  life.  Our 
daily  bread,  and  not  a  year’s  supply  or  rich  poundcake  or 
an  ample  bank  account,  is  all  we  are  authorized  to  ask  for. 

4 ‘And  forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  also  forgive  our  debt¬ 
ors.”  Having  descended  and  lightly  touched  our  bodily 
needs,  the  prayer  quickly  bounds  back  into  the  spirit  and 
rises  to  heavenly  things.  Forgiveness  is  a  mutual  bless¬ 
ing,  and  we  cannot  get  what  we  do  not  give  in  the  spirit¬ 
ual  world.  “And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver 
us  from  evil.”  The  great  fear  of  the  prayer  is  not  pov¬ 
erty  or  suffering,  but  it  shrinks  from  every  slimy  touch 
and  stain.  The  prayer,  as  pieced  out  by  later  hands,  goes 
up  to  God  for  its  fitting  conclusion  and  climax,  for  all 
things  human  must  end  in  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  God. 

Such  is  the  model  prayer,  short,  simple,  comprehensive, 


178 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


laying  hold  of  the  greatest  blessings  and  rifling  heaven  and 
earth  for  our  enrichment.  If  we  learn  to  pray  after  this 
manner,  in  its  spirit,  we  shall  know  what  things  we  ought 
to  pray  for,  and  whatsoever  we  ask  shall  be  done  unto  us. 

And  such  are  samples  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  from 
whose  slopes  and  summit  have  come  down  rivers  of  w&ter 
for  the  blessing  of  the  world.  Of  this  water  we  should 
ever  drink  and  live. 

Down  from  this  Galilean  mountaintop 
Rolled  words  that  are  eternal  laws  of  life, 

More  deeply  grounded  than  its  granite  base ; 

Flowed  strains  of  sweetness  that  have  power  to  set 
This  inharmonious  world  in  tune  and  cause 
Our  jarring  lives  to  grow  to  mellow  music. 

10.  Jesus  Heals  a  Centurion’s  Servant. 

Matthew  8  :  5-13 ;  Luke  7  : 10. 

In  this  incident  we  have  the  first  contact  of  Jesus  with 
the  Gentile  world,  and  it  was  a  prophetic  foregleam  of 
ages  to  come.  While  Jesus  did  shut  himself  up  within  a 
narrow  Jewish  field  it  was  only  that  he  might  raise  wheat 
to  be  sown  broadly  over  the  world. 

Concerning  this  centurion  nothing  more  is  known  that 
what  is  here  recorded.  He  was  a  Roman  officer  in  com¬ 
mand  of  a  hundred  soldiers  stationed  at  Capernaum,  where, 
as  in  all  the  chief  towns,  the  Romans  kept  a  garrison.  He 
had  good  points  in  his  character.  The  first  was  his  sympa¬ 
thetic  regard  for  his  servant.  This  servant  was  the  cen¬ 
turion’s  slave,  his  personal  property,  and  the  Roman  slave 
had  no  rights  his  master  was  bound  to  respect.  Yet  there 
were  bright  spots  in  the  gloom,  exceptional  cases  in  which 
master  and  slave  were  bound  together  in  the  spirit  of  broth¬ 
erhood,  and  such  was  the  relation  of  this  centurion  and 
his  slave. 

The  centurion  was  also  a  man  of  strong  character.  He 
had  soldiers  under  him  that  would  go  and  come  at  his  bid¬ 
ding.  He  was  also  himself  set  under  authority,  so  that  he 
was  not  only  able  to  command  others  but  was  also  able  to 
obey,  which  is  often  a  harder  thing  to  do.  He  had  the 
power  of  self-control,  which  is  the  highest  strength.  He 
had  also  built  a  synagogue  for  the  Jews,  and  this  shows 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  179 

his  liberal  spirit  both  in  religion  and  in  financial  giv¬ 
ing. 

So  this  centurion  combined  sympathy  with  strength,  lib¬ 
erality  in  giving  with  firmness  in  exacting,  power  in  com¬ 
manding  with  self-control  in  obeying,  and  thus  his  char¬ 
acter  at  many  points  is  symmetrical  and  beautiful. 

Yet  this  strong  man,  when  his  beloved  servant  fell  sick, 
came  to  the  end  of  his  power  and  broke  down.  His  love 
for  his  slave,  his  good  will  toward  the  Jews,  the  syna¬ 
gogue  he  had  built,  the  soldiers  under  his  command,  none 
of  these  could  help  him  in  his  hour  of  anxiety  and  trial. 
Sooner  or  later  we  all  come  to  the  point  where  all  our 
resources  fail  us. 

The  centurion  was  helpless  in  himself,  yet  there  was  left 
one  thing  he  could  do,  and  he  did  it:  he  went  to  Jesus 
This  was  an  act  of  courage.  Jesus  was  not  a  popular 
prophet  among  many  of  the  Jews,  already  he  was  under 
suspicion  as  a  heretic  and  dangerous  man.  For  this  Ro¬ 
man  officer  to  appeal  to  him  was  to  expose  himself  to  Jewish 
ridicule  and  scorn  and  possibly  to  charges  of  treason.  Yet 
the  soldier  in  him  swept  away  all  fear,  and  he  boldly  went 
to  Jesus. 

When  he  came  to  Jesus  and  received  assurance  that 
Jesus  would  go  with  him  and  heal  his  servant,  the  centu¬ 
rion  said,  “Lord,  trouble  not  thyself;  for  I  am  not  worthy 
that  thou  shouldest  enter  under  my  roof.”  It  was  not 
usual  for  a  Roman  officer  to  speak  in  this  spirit :  rather  he 
was  a  proud  man  that  spoke  in  imperious  tones  of  supe¬ 
riority.  But  this  centurion  had  a  sense  of  humility  which 
was  a  mark  of  loftier  greatness.  He  concluded  with  a  re¬ 
quest  that  showed  remarkable  faith:  “but  say  in  a  word, 
and  my  servant  shall  be  healed.” 

Such  faith  drew  from  Jesus  the  wonderful  testimony, 
* 1 1  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel.  ’  ’  This 
started  him  off  on  a  train  of  reflection  that  many  shall 
come  from  the  east  and  the  west  and  shall  sit  down  with 
Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
but  the  sons  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  out :  a  revelation 
as  by  a  flash  of  lightning  that  many  who  think  they  are 
in  the  kingdom  and  pride  themselves  on  their  superiority 
yet  have  no  part  in  it.  But  there  is  also  a  bright  ray  of 


180 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


hope  in  this  revelation,  for  it  shows  many  coming  from 
unexpected  quarters  into  the  kingdom.  If  church  people 
prove  unfaithful  and  are  shut  out,  many  poor  heathen 
souls,  true  to  their  dim  light,  shall  come  in. 

Jesus  Christ  had  a  large  vision  of  his  kingdom  in  the 
world.  He  was  no  parochial  teacher  with  little  plans  and 
programs,  but  a  kingdom-builder  who  looked  through  the 
ages,  threw  wide  open  its  doors  to  the  people  of  every  land 
and  saw  them  coming  from  every  quarter  of  the  horizon 
and  pouring  into  it.  Our  own  eyes  are  now  seeing  the  ful¬ 
filment  of  this  prophecy  in  many  foreign  lands. 

Jesus  bade  the  centurion  to  go  home.  “As  thou  hast 
believed,  so  be  it  done  unto  thee.  And  his  servant  was 
healed  in  the  self-same  hour.”  Faith  is  always  the  meas¬ 
ure  of  our  achievements.  The  great  faith  that  sees  a  great 
vision  in  any  field,  exploration,  business,  literature,  is 
matched  and  crowned  with  a  correspondingly  great  vic¬ 
tory.  In  the  spiritual  life  it  shall  be  done  unto  us  ac¬ 
cording  to  our  faith.  Ask  great  things  of  God.  “Open 
thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it”  (Ps.  81:10). 

11.  How  Jesus  Dealt  with  John's  Doubt. 

Matthew  11  :  2-19 ;  Luke  7  : 18-35. 

John  the  Baptist  had  been  in  prison  something  like  a 
year  in  a  lonely  fortress  down  by  the  Dead  Sea.  Jesus 
was  up  in  Galilee,  moving  around  among  the  villages  with 
a  few  disciples,  preaching.  John  fell  to  musing  on  the 
situation,  and,  as  a  result,  a  painful  doubt  began  to  grow 
in  his  mind  as  to  whether  Jesus,  whom  he  had  himself  in¬ 
troduced  and  vouched  for  as  the  Messiah,  was  indeed  this 
Prophet. 

Several  causes  had  produced  this  doubt.  John  was  in 
prison  and  had  been  there  long  enough  to  fall  into  a  prison 
mood.  Hope  does  not  burn  brightly  there.  No  wonder 
that  in  that  damp  and  dusky  place  the  world  looked  dark 
to  John  and  that  the  checkered  shadows  on  the  stone  walls 
turned  to  ghostly  spectres. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  inside  the  prison :  and  what 
was  the  state  outside?  Dark  enough  in  itself  to  produce 
doubt.  Up  in  Jerusalem  the  Pharisees  were  strangling 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


181 


the  life  out  of  religion  with  their  bigotry  and  hypocrisy. 
Up  in  Galilee  the  court  of  Herod  was  living  riotously  and 
flaunting  its  scarlet  sins  shamelessly  before  the  people.  And 
what  was  Jesus  doing  about  all  this?  Apparently  nothing: 
only  going  around  and  preaching  inoffensive  little  ser¬ 
mons  in  fishing  towns  and  country  villages.  Where  were 
the  axe  and  the  fan  and  fire  of  judgment  that  John  himself 
had  promised  the  Messiah  wmuld  bring?  They  were  not 
in  evidence? 

On  the  contrary  Jesus  had  turned  out  to  be  patient,  tol¬ 
erant,  mild,  genial.  He  had  abandoned  Jerusalem  and 
seemed  unconcerned  about  Herod  and  his  court;  he  had 
apparently  forgotten  his  forerunner  lying  in  the  Black 
Tower  down  by  the  Dead  Sea  and  was  content  to  spend  an 
easy  life  talking  to  insignificant  fisher  folk.  A  genial 
Christ  was  not  what  John  wanted:  that  fiery  prophet 
wanted  a  Christ  that  would  come  with  axe  and  fire  to  chop 
things  down  and  burn  them  up. 

Under  the  convergence  and  pressure  of  all  these  facts 
John  himself  began  to  doubt  the  very  Christ  whom  he  had 
introduced  with  high  hope  and  promise.  That  John 
doubted  Jesus  is  the  astonishing  fact  that  stands  out  in 
this  narrative,  and  it  is  an  honest  book  that  boldly  writes 
this  damaging  fact  down  on  its  pages. 

No  thinking  mind  escapes  these  shadows  of  doubt.  Good 
men  in  all  ages,  even  prophets  and  apostles,  have  been 
enveloped  in  this  darkness.  The  higher  up  one  climbs  in 
thought  and  even  in  saintly  character,  the  more  may  doubt 
beat  against  him,  as  mountaintops  are  caught  in  storms 
that  never  sweep  down  upon  the  plains. 

What,  now,  did  John  do  with  his  doubt?  He  did  not 
brood  over  it  until  it  hatched  out  the  serpents  of  unbelief 
and  bitterness  and  hatred  of  all  things  good.  He  did  not 
allow  his  doubt  to  destroy  what  faith  he  had  in  Jesus  and 
sink  into  despair.  The  man  who  deals  with  his  doubt  in 
this  way  in  doing  an  unfair  thing  and  is  driving  his  doubt 
straight  into  starless  night. 

John  sent  a  committee  of  inquiry  to  Jesus,  asking,  “Art 
thou  he  that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another  V’ 
He  did  not  consult  his  disciples  who  were  bringing  various 
discouraging  reports  about  Jesus;  much  less  did  he  take 


182 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


counsel  with  the  Pharisees,  the  enemies  of  Jesus,  or  with 
the  Sadducees,  the  agnostics  of  the  day;  but  he  sent 
directly  to  Jesus  and  asked  him  for  further  light  and 
gave  him  a  further  trial.  This  is  the  first  course  to  pur¬ 
sue  with  our  doubts.  Doubt  is  a  bad  thing  when  it  drives 
us  away  from  Christ,  but  it  is  a  good  thing  when  it  sends 
us  to  him  for  further  facts  and  fuller  truth  and  light  and 
life. 

How,  now,  did  Jesus  deal  with  John’s  doubt?  He  said 
unto  John’s  messengers,  “Go  and  shew  John  those  things 
which  ye  do  hear  and  see.”  This  is  a  remarkable  answer 
that  blazes  out  upon  the  pages  of  the  Gospel  like  a  burst 
of  light.  It  contains  no  harsh  judgment  upon  John,  or 
slightest  trace  of  impatience  with  him  for  his  doubt. 
Christ  never  dealt  unkindly  with  any  one  for  doubting 
him,  and  he  will  not  be  hard  on  us  for  our  doubts  if  we 
will  only  bring  them  to  him. 

Go  and  tell  John  the  facts,  said  Jesus.  He  did  not  send 
word  to  John  that  his  doubts  were  damnable  and  that  he 
should  stop  his  thinking  and  hush  them  up.  This  has 
been  a  favorite  way  of  dealing  with  doubt  in  some  quar¬ 
ters.  Some  ecclesiastics  from  the  Pharisees  down  to  our 
day  have  been  very  much  afraid  of  thinking  on  the  part  of 
the  people  and  have  tried  to  discourage  and  even  suppress 
it.  But  this  is  not  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  which  urges  us 
to  prove  all  things  and  try  the  very  spirits  whether  they 
be  of  God.  Jesus  did  not  stop  John’s  thinking,  and  men¬ 
tal  death  is  not  the  cure  for  doubt  to  this  day. 

More  remarkable  still,  Jesus  did  not  undertake  to  do 
John’s  thinking  for  him.  John’s  question  was,  “Art  thou 
he  that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another?”  Why 
did  not  J esus  answer  with  a  plain  and  positive  yes  ?  Why 
not  relieve  John  of  all  responsibility  and  perplexity  in 
settling  this  question  by  settling  it  for  him  ?  Because  this 
is  not  Christ’s  way  and  it  is  not  God’s  way.  It  is  a  way 
that  presents  plausible  pleas  and  attractions.  It  seems  so 
plain  and  easy  and  conclusive,  and  it  has  often  been  tried. 
There  are  ecclesiastics  who  want  to  do  all  our  religious 
thinking  for  us  and  kindly  offer  to  relieve  us  of  all  trouble 
in  the  matter.  Why  not  have  the  church  fix  and  finish 
our  creed  down  to  the  last  letter  and  then  simply  accept 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  183 

it  on  its  dogmatic  authority?  Because  our  minds  will  not 
let  us  and  God  does  not  want  us  to  do  this. 

Christianity  is  not  a  superstition  but  a  rational  religion. 
God  had  not  given  us  reasoning  faculties  and  then  stifled 
and  stultified  them  by  leaving  them  no  room  in  which  to 
work;  on  the  contrary  he  is  ever  urging  us  on  into  a 
larger  use  of  our  reason.  “Come  now,  and  let  us  reason 
together,  saith  the  Lord”  (Isaiah  1:18). 

So  on  this  occasion  Jesus  said  in  effect  to  John’s  disciples, 
“Go  and  tell  John  the  facts  and  let  him  draw  his  own 
conclusion;  I  will  not  answer  this  question  for  him  dog¬ 
matically,  but  I  will  give  him  more  facts  and  suggest  to 
him  a  further  line  of  thought  and  let  him  work  out  an 
answer  to  his  own  question.”  Jesus  did  not  tell  John  to 
do  less  thinking,  but  he  told  him  to  do  more  thinking. 
Jesus  is  not  afraid  of  reasoning  in  his  disciples :  he  only 
wants  them  to  reason  enough  and  think  their  way  through 
to  right  conclusions. 

What  were  the  facts  Jesus  submitted  to  John?  “The 
blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers 
are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up, 
and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them.” 
These  were  not  theological  arguments  but  gracious  works. 
They  were  self-certifying  evidences. 

There  are  other  works  being  wrought  in  our  day  that 
come  closer  to  our  vision  and  experience.  The  character 
and  deeds  of  Christ  match  and  prove  his  divine  claims. 
That  white  Life  that  grew  up  out  of  the  hard  barren  soil 
of  that  selfish  world  must  have  had  a  divine  root  that 
was  never  born  of  earth.  His  magnificent  march  of  mercy 
through  the  Christian  centuries  is  a  mighty  fact.  His 
sayings  are  self-evident  truths,  which  are  not  dogmatic 
deliverances  but  spiritual  laws  that  work  in  our  lives  as 
Newton’s  law  of  gravitation  works  in  the  skies.  Thus 
Jesus  boldly  trusted  this  matter  to  John’s  judgment,  and 
so  does  he  trust  us. 

“And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in 
me.”  With  these  words  Jesus  closed  his  answer  to  John. 
They  imply  that  we  must  exercise  some  patience  with 
Christ,  that  we  cannot  fully  understand  him,  that  after 
we  have  done  our  profoundest  and  most  sympathetic 


184 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


thinking  towards  him  there  will  still  be  unexplored  re¬ 
mainders  and  unsolved  problems  we  cannot  clear  up,  that 
he  is  bordered  with  mystery  that  must  ever  transcend  and 
try  our  faith.  All  our  religious  thinking  is  margined 
and  mingled  with  mystery.  It  would  be  a  superficial  re¬ 
ligion  that  we  could  fathom;  it  would  be  a  poor  and  piti¬ 
ful  God  that  we  could  see  through.  Some  things  in  Christ 
we  must  ever  take  by  faith;  some  of  his  ways  may  ever 
sorely  perplex  us.  But  blessed  is  he  that  is  not  offended 
on  this  account,  but  rather  trusts  and  worships  him  the 
more. 


12.  Jesus  Teaching  by  Parables 
Matthew  13 : 1-53 ;  Mark  4 : 1-34 ;  Luke  4 : 1-18 

On  the  shore  of  Lake  Galilee,  standing  on  its  sandy 
beach  and  sitting  on  its  grassy  banks  were  an  assembled 
multitude,  while  from  the  pulpit  of  a  fishing  boat  Jesus 
delivered  to  them  a  series  of  seven  parables.  It  was  the 
first  instance  of  his  using  this  mode  of  teaching  and  seems 
to  have  surprised  the  disciples  so  that  they  asked  him 
privately  for  an  explanation. 

A  parable  is  a  short  story  with  a  moral  point,  a  picture 
of  the  truth  taught,  a  dramatized  expression  of  doctrine. 
An  abstract  statement  of  a  truth  is  difficult  to  grasp  and 
is  apt  to  be  uninteresting.  Put  the  same  truth  in  the 
form  of  a  story  or  illustration  drawn  from  the  familiar 
things  of  life,  and  instantly  it  takes  on  form  and  color 
and  dramatic  action  and  begins  to  attract  attention. 

Jesus  was  a  master  of  illustration.  His  parables  are 
pictures  out  of  the  daily  experience  of  his  hearers  which 
brought  his  teachings  home  to  every  one’s  business  and 
bosom.  He  spoke  to  farmers  of  sowing  and  reaping,  of 
wheat  and  tares;  to  fishermen  of  casting  nets  and  sorting 
out  fish  and  finding  the  pearl  of  great  price.  The  listless 
housekeeper  suddenly  had  her  attention  arrested  by  hear¬ 
ing  mention  of  the  leaven  hid  in  the  meal  or  of  sweeping  a 
room  in  search  of  a  lost  coin;  and  the  workman,  weary 
with  his  day’s  toil,  stopped  to  hear  of  the  laborers  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  vineyard  and  of  how  they  struck  for  higher 
wages.  Jesus  spoke  in  the  language  of  daily  life  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


185 


made  religion  as  real  and  practical  as  farming  and  fish¬ 
ing.  His  sermons  were  picturesque  and  attractive  and 
at  times  touched  with  humor;  his  hearers  knew  what  he 
was  talking  about,  and  the  common  people  heard  him 
gladly. 

The  main  object  of  the  parable  of  the  sower,  which  will 
be  taken  as  an  example  of  these  parables,  is  to  describe 
four  classes  of  hearers  with  the  view  of  persuading  us  to 
take  heed  how  we  hear. 

First,  are  those  that  receive  the  seed  of  truth  on  the 
wayside.  This  is  the  path  or  road  running  through  the 
grainfield  which  was  traveled  over  so  that  it  was  kept 
beaten  down  bare  and  hard,  and  seeds  falling  on  it  were 
quickly  picked  up  by  greedy,  watchful  birds  that  were 
hovering  about.  Our  hearts  are  thus  traveled  over  and 
beaten  down.  Our  sins  trample  over  them  with  their 
hardening  hoofs,  the  hurrying  traffic  of  the  world  rolls 
over  them  its  iron  wheels,  and  wliat  chance  do  seeds  of 
truth  falling  on  such  hearts  have  to  take  root?  The  mind 
may  listen,  but  quickly  some  worldly  thought  or  desire 
comes  in  and  snatches  it  away. 

The  second  class  of  hearers  receive  the  seed  upon  stony 
soil.  This  is  only  a  thin  layer  of  earth  on  an  underlying 
sheet  of  rock,  and  the  seeds  falling  on  this  warm  soil 
quickly  take  root,  but  when  the  rootlets  strike  the  layer 
of  rock  the  plant  all  the  more  luxuriantly  shoots  up  into 
stalk ;  but  having  no  depth  of  earth,  under  a  scorching  sun 
it  soon  droops  and  withers.  This  represents  a  ready  re¬ 
ception  of  truth  that  is  only  superficial  and  temporary. 
It  may  be  due  to  an  emotional  nature  that  responds  to 
every  appeal  as  a  leaf  flutters  before  every  breath  of  air. 
There  are  people  that  like  to  have  their  feelings  touched 
and  cry  as  easily  as  children,  to  whom  tears  may  be  a 
kind  of  luxury.  But  the  excitement  soon  passes,  the  old 
temptations  return,  and  such  converts  do  not  last  and  are 
soon  ready  for  the  next  revival. 

So  runs  the  story.  Other  seeds  are  choked  by  thorns, 
and  old  habits  constrict  and  strangle  the  seeds  of  the 
gospel.  But  good  soil  brings  forth  thirty  and  sixty  and 
even  a  hundred  fold.  These  are  they  of  open  mind  and 
receptive  heart  who  receive  the  truth  with  depth  of  con- 


186 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


viction  and  fervency  of  faith  and  have  staying  power  in 
the  Christian  life  and  bear  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 

The  main  point  of  the  parable  is  the  lesson  that  Jesus 
himself  drew  from  it  that  we  should  take  heed  how  we 
hear.  Preaching  is  thought  to  be  a  difficult  thing  involv¬ 
ing  great  responsibility,  but  hearing  is  generally  supposed 
to  be  easy,  involving  little  or  no  responsibility  and  no 
effort  at  all.  But  in  fact  hearing  is  in  a  sense  as  difficult 
and  responsible  work  as  preaching  and  teaching.  There 
is  plenty  of  poor  preaching  abroad  in  the  land,  but  there 
is  vastly  more  poor  hearing;  and  no  doubt  one  reason 
there  is  so  much  poor  preaching  up  in  the  pulpit  is  that 
there  is  so  much  lamentably  poor  hearing  down  in  the 
pews. 

Good  hearing  implies  preparation  and  a  right  state  of 
mind,  sympathetic  attention  to  and  concentration  of 
thought  upon  the  subject,  and  these  are  a  difficult  exer¬ 
cise  of  the  mind.  It  makes  some  difference  to  the  mer¬ 
chant  how  he  hears  the  orders  of  his  customers;  or  to  the 
locomotive  engineer  how  he  reads  the  orders  of  the  train 
dispatcher;  or  to  the  soldier  how  he  hears  the  commands 
of  his  officer;  or  to  a  patient  how  he  hears  the  directions 
of  his  physician;  or  to  one  asleep  in  a  burning  building 
how  he  hears  the  voice  calling  upon  him  to  escape  for  his 
life.  On  the  way  we  hear  may  depend  life  itself.  In¬ 
finitely  greater  difference  does  it  make  how  we  hear  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  calling  upon  us  to  repent  and 
believe  upon  him  and  to  do  his  will.  On  such  hearing 
depend  the  issues  of  eternity. 

These  parables  illustrate  the  whole  manner  of  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  Jesus  as  artless,  simple,  sincere,  issuing  as  a  living 
stream  out  of  his  own  experience,  appealing  to  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  his  hearers,  always  bearing  the  accent  of  real¬ 
ity  and  throbbing  with  sympathy  and  earnestness.  He 
taught  with  authority,  not  with  the  arbitrary  authority 
of  official  station,  but  with  that  of  inherent  and  self- 
evident  truth.  His  words  were  their  own  witnesses  and 
needed  no  official  claim  or  station  to  confirm  them. 

Universality  was  stamped  upon  his  teaching.  His  sub¬ 
jects,  however  personal  and  local,  were  yet  universal  in 
their  range  and  application.  The  smallest  matter  in  his 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


187 


hands  became  great.  He  kept  clear  of  provincial  and 
local  affairs  and  dealt  chiefly  with  the  large  and  perma¬ 
nent  interests  of  the  human  sonl.  The  teachings  of  any 
ancient  author,  even  the  greatest,  such  as  Plato  and  Cicero, 
are  obsolete  on  many  a  page,  because  they  have  long  since 
been  left  behind  by  the  progress  of  human  thought. 
Science  has  put  them  in  a  pitiable  plight.  But  none  of 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  is  thus  out  of  date  and  left  behind. 
His  words  are  ever  abreast  and  in  advance  of  the  age; 
and  still  his  sublime  saying  stands  true,  “Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away.  ’  ’ 

13.  A  Storm  on  Lake  Galilee 
Matthew  8 :  23-27 ;  Mark  4 :  35-41 ;  Luke  8 :  22-25 

At  the  close  of  the  busy  day  of  teaching,  Jesus  needed 
rest  and  he  saw  that  the  only  way  he  could  escape  from 
the  multitude  and  find  retirement  was  to  cross  the  lake 
to  the  other  side.  This  lake,  rimmed  in  with  abrupt 
mountain  walls  cut  deep  with  canyons,  is  subject  to  sud¬ 
den  and  violent  storms.  The  winds  rush  down  the  ravines 
and  lash  the  placid  sea  into  a  boiling  foaming  mass  of 
maddened  water. 

Such  a  storm  fell  upon  the  lake  on  this  evening,  and 
presently  the  boat  containing  Jesus  and  his  disciples  was 
being  tossed  about  like  a  bit  of  wood  on  the  angry  waves. 

The  sea  is  a  favorite  symbol  of  life  in  all  literatures. 
Its  smooth  surface  and  bright  prospect  and  pleasant  sail¬ 
ing  and  its  changing  moods  and  its  storms  and  mystery 
and  tragedy, — how  these  reflect  our  human  experience. 
We  might  think  that  life  in  God’s  world  would  always  be 
smooth  and  safe  and  pleasant,  but  he  has  not  made  it  so. 
It  has  its  broad  bright  expanse  when  heaven  pours  its 
splendor  upon  it  and  it  seems  like  a  sea  of  glass,  and 
then  its  skies  darken  and  break  into  a  storm  that  sends 
all  God’s  waves  and  billows  over  us. 

Where  was  Jesus  in  this  storm?  “In  the  hinder  part 
of  the  ship,  asleep  on  a  pillow.”  It  is  a  beautiful  touch 
of  the  humanity  of  Jesus.  Weary  with  the  day’s  labor, 
in  which  he  had  expended  his  strength  and  imparted  his 
soul  to  the  multitude,  spent  in  body  and  in  mind,  he  Jay 


188 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


down  in  the  arms  of  “ nature’s  sweet  restorer.”  He  was 
fatigued  with  toil,  he  had  done  nothing  that  day  that 
troubled  his  conscience,  and  he  had  committed  himself 
to  his  Father’s  care  as  he  lay  down  in  that  boat,  and  these 
are  the  secrets  of  sound  sweet  sleep  at  the  close  of  any 
day. 

And  what  were  the  disciples  doing  in  the  storm?  No 
doubt  they  did  their  best  to  manage  the  boat.  They  were 
fishermen  and  knew  that  lake  and  were  expert  in  seaman¬ 
ship,  many  a  storm  had  they  weathered,  and  they  knew 
how  to  reef  the  sails  and  scud  before  the  wind. 

But  this  storm  was  too  much  for  them.  The  waves 
were  beating  into  the  boat  and  filling  it  with  water,  and 
they  thought  they  must  have  instant  help  or  it  would 
soon  be  all  over  with  them.  At  this  point  they  awoke 
Jesus  and  cried  unto  him,  “Master,  carest  thou  not  that 
we  perish  ?  ’  ’  There  is  a  note  of  impatience  in  their  words, 
and  yet  they  appeal  to  Jesus,  not  as  another  boatman  or 
fellow  man,  but  as  Master  and  Lord.  They  knew  that  his 
power  underlay  and  overtopped  that  sea  and  storm  and 
could  curb  its  wrath  and  put  a  hook  in  its  mighty  frothy 
jaws  and  bring  it  low;  and  their  faith  in  him,  though  at 
times  it  wavered  and  was  near  to  failing,  now  rose  in  its 
strength  and  cast  itself  upon  him. 

We  should  trust  in  the  Lord  at  all  times,  but  especially 
in  the  hour  of  darkness  and  storm.  “Deep  calleth  unto 
deep  at  the  noise  of  thy  waterspouts;  all  thy  waves  and 
thy  billows  are  gone  over  me.  Yet  the  Lord  will  com¬ 
mand  his  loving  kindness  in  the  daytime,  and  in  the  night 
his  song  shall  be  with  me,  and  my  prayer  unto  the  God  of 
my  life.” 

This  prayer  was  immediately  answered.  The  sleeping 
Christ  awoke  and  arose  and  stood  upon  the  deck  of  that 
sinking  ship,  and  with  calm  dignity  and  self-possession, 
as  of  one  who  knew  that  he  held  that  sea  in  the  hollow  of 
his  hand,  he  said,  “Peace,  be  still!”  The  tempest-driven 
waters  fell  flat  and  the  holy  calm  of  evening  lay  upon  the 
sea.  What  is  this  more  than  the  mastery  of  mind  over 
matter?  The  human  spirit  can  quiet  down  and  control 
the  agitated  human  body  even  when  it  is  in  a  paroxysm 
of  pain,  and  cannot  the  divine  Spirit  that  pervades  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


189 


universe  master  it  at  every  point  and  mold  it  to  his  pur¬ 
poses?  One  of  the  deepest  facts  of  the  universe  is  that 
matter  is  servant  of  mind  and  may  be  only  one  mode  of 
its  manifestation,  and  this  miracle  is  an  instance  of  this 
fact. 

What  effect  did  this  deliverance  have  upon  the  disciples  ? 
“And  they  feared  exceedingly,  and  said  one  to  another, 
What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the  wind  and 
the  sea  obey  him?”  They  had  seen  other  exhibitions  of 
the  miracle-working  power  of  Jesus,  but  this  so  far  sur¬ 
passed  all  other  wonders  that  they  felt  that  they  did 
not  know  him  and  exclaimed,  “What  manner  of  man  is 
this ! 5  ’ 

Yet  the  storm  added  nothing  to  Jesus,  but  only  brought 
out  what  was  in  him.  An  observer,  noting  the  men  in 
that  boat  as  it  drew  away  from  the  shore  that  evening, 
would  not  have  discerned  any  marked  difference  in  its 
occupants.  They  were  all  plain  men,  wearing  about  the 
same  garb  and  belonging  to  the  same  class.  But  the  storm 
suddenly  revealed  a  difference  among  them  of  immense 
range  and  power  and  showed  one  of  them  to  be  divine 
and  made  him  master  of  the  others  and  of  the  sea.  Great 
crises  bring  out  what  is  in  men.  Lincoln  did  not  seem  to 
differ  greatly  from  other  men  until  the  Civil  War  came: 
then  his  power  came  out  and  he  stood  master  of  the  hour 
and  of  the  nation. 

Jesus  did  not  seem  to  many  of  his  contemporaries  to  be 
other  than  a  common  man  and  a  deluded  and  dangerous 
one  at  that.  Yet  the  centuries  have  brought  out  the  real 
nature  and  rank  and  power  of  this  Man  and  revealed  him 
as  the  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Do  we  think  that  we  fully  know  Jesus  Christ?  This  is 
the  folly,  of  our  superficial  knowledge  and  the  blindness 
of  our  conceit.  We  also  need  some  outburst  of  his  power 
or  extraordinary  experience  to  shock  us  out  of  our  self- 
satisfied  shallowness  and  give  us  a  new  vision  of  Christ. 
Then  we  shall  exclaim,  “What  manner  of  man  is  this!” 
Even  the  centuries  obey  him  and  swing  their  orbits  around 
his  cradle  and  date  their  calendar  from  his  birth.  Our 
greatest  safety  and  comfort  and  blessing  consist  in  trust¬ 
ing  him  in  all  the  experiences  and  storms  of  life, 


190 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


14.  The  Tragedy  of  the  Black  Tower 
Matthew  14:1-12,  Mark  6:14-29,  Luke  9:7-9 

Incidents  following  the  storm  on  the  lake  were  the  heal¬ 
ing  of  the  Gadarene  demoniac,  the  raising  of  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Jairus,  the  healing  of  two  blind  men,  the  second 
rejection  at  Nazareth,  a  third  preaching  tour  through 
Galilee,  the  instructions  to  the  Twelve,  and  then  we  come 
to  the  story  of  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist. 

As  Jesus  moved  about  from  point  to  point  in  Galilee, 
the  fame  of  his  mighty  works  spread  far  and  wide,  and 
various  theories  were  being  offered  to  account  for  his  won¬ 
derful  doings,  some  saying  he  was  Elijah  and  others  that 
he  was  a  prophet. 

But  Herod  had  a  theory  of  his  own  which  he  could 
not  keep  from  blurting  out.  * 4  This  is  John  the  Baptist/ ’ 
he  said,  “he  is  risen  from  the  dead.”  Sadducee  and 
sceptic  though  he  was,  yet  conscience  overpowered  his 
scepticism  in  the  resurrection  and  he  saw  the  murdered 
man  alive.  The  sight  of  the  holy  prophet’s  blood  drip¬ 
ping  on  the  palace  floor  never  could  be  banished  from 
his  mind  and  made  him  believe  in  a  possibility  which  his 
creed  denied. 

The  occurrence  of  this  incident  in  the  life  of  Jesus  leads 
the  writers  of  the  synoptic  Gospels  to  give  an  account  of 
the  imprisonment  and  death  of  John  the  Baptist  which 
had  occurred  some  time  before.  The  tragedy  occurred 
in  Castle  Machserus  or  the  Black  Tower,  situated  on  a 
crag  overlooking  a  deep  mountain  gorge  nine  miles  east 
of  the  Dead  Sea.  Mineral  springs  were  near  by,  and  in 
the  palace  he  had  built  there  Herod  spent  a  portion  of 
each  year.  The  prophet  had  been  in  prison  about  a  year 
when,  amidst  the  revelries  of  a  royal  feast,  there  was  en¬ 
acted  this  dark  and  revolting  tragedy. 

The  crime  had  its  roots  in  causes  far  back,  and  there 
was  a  woman  in  the  case.  Herod  Antipas  had  inherited 
and  developed  many  of  the  traits  of  his  father,  Herod  the 
Great,  that  monster  of  iniquity.  He  lured  away  Herodias, 
the  wife  of  Philip,  Herod’s  elder  brother,  who  was  an  am¬ 
bitious,  fascinating  and  unprincipled  woman.  He  already 
had  a  wife  and  she  had  a  husband,  but  these  were  slight 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


191 


obstructions  in  the  way  of  such  people,  and  the  unholy 
union  was  formed.  Fawning  courtiers  flattered  the  guilty 
pair,  but  when  John  the  Baptist  got  a  chance  at  them  he 
did  not  mince  his  words.  “It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to 
have  her,  ”  he  said.  He  shot  a  flash  of  lightning  into 
Herod’s  guilt;  he  put  his  finger  on  the  burning  point  of 
his  sin  and  made  him  writhe  under  its  touch. 

From  this  hour  the  prophet’s  doom  was  sealed.  The 
fury  of  an  enraged  woman  that  had  the  heart  of  a  tigress 
was  let  loose  against  him.  She  would  have  killed  him 
outright,  but  was  restrained  by  Herod.  He  was  afraid  to 
go  so  far,  but  sent  and  seized  John  and  hurried  him  off 
to  the  Black  Tower  and  thrust  him  into  its  dungeon  dug 
deep  in  the  rock.  Herod  would  not  stand  such  preaching 
and  made  way  with  the  preacher. 

The  scene  is  now  set  in  the  Castle  Machasrus  and  we 
look  in  upon  revelry  and  dancing.  Herod’s  birthday  was 
being  celebrated  with  a  great  social  function.  It  was  the 
society  event  of  the  season,  and  the  lords  of  the  court,  the 
officers  of  the  army,  and  the  wealth  and  fashion  and  beauty 
of  Galilee  were  present.  The  Castle  gleamed  with  lights 
and  strains  of  minstrelsy  floated  out  upon  the  air. 

But  there  was  one  unhappy  woman  there  that  night.  In 
the  midst  of  the  revelry  Herodias  was  rankling  with  re¬ 
venge  and  her  brain  was  busy  with  plots  and  plans.  At 
such  a  feast  it  was  customary  to  introduce  a  professional 
dancing  girl  to  entertain  the  guests,  and  this  dance  was 
immoral  in  character  and  pleased  the  spectators  in  pro¬ 
portion  as  it  passed  the  borders  of  modesty. 

On  this  occasion  Herodias  introduced  as  the  dancer 
Salome,  her  own  daughter  by  a  former  marriage.  It  was 
a  shame  for  a  mother  to  prostitute  her  daughter  to  this 
end,  but  this  was  a  link  in  her  cunning  plot  and  it  worked 
like  a  charm.  The  dancer  caught  the  fancy  of  Herod  who, 
infatuated  with  the  girl,  offered  her  whatsoever  she  might 
wish,  even  to  the  half  of  his  kingdom.  The  daughter 
withdrew  to  consult  her  mother.  The  tigress  was  lying 
in  wait  in  her  lair  outside  the  dance  hall  and  her  hour  was 
come. 

Beneath  the  marble  floor  of  the  palace,  right  under  her 
feet,  chained  to  a  rock  was  John  the  Baptist,  the  hated 


192 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


preacher  who  had  dared  to  cross  her  path.  All  that  scene 
of  revelry  and  splendor  could  not  give  her  satisfaction 
while  this  object  of  her  fnry  was  alive.  “What  shall  I 
ask?”  was  the  daughter’s  question.  The  answer  was 
ready  on  the  very  tip  of  the  mother’s  tongue.  Without 
the  waste  of  a  word  she  hissed,  “The  head  of  John  the 
Baptist.” 

The  daughter  was  of  the  same  cold  and  cruel  blood  as 
her  mother  and  carried  the  request  to  the  king.  He  was 
shocked  at  the  dreadful  idea,  but  he  was  now  afloat  on 
the  swift-rushing  current  of  his  sin.  Instantly  a  soldier 
was  dispatched  to  execute  the  order.  Suddenly  the  door 
of  the  cell  creaked  on  its  hinges  and  the  officer  stood  in 
the  gloom,  peering  around  for  the  prisoner,  all  unexpect¬ 
ant  of  his  fate.  One  strong  sure  stroke  of  his  keen  sword 
and  the  deed  was  done.  The  head  was  placed  on  a  charger 
and  brought  dripping  up  into  the  palace  before  the  horri¬ 
fied  guests  and  handed  to  the  daughter  and  from  the 
daughter  it  passed  to  the  mother.  Her  revenge  was  com¬ 
plete:  the  hated  preacher’s  voice  was  silenced. 

But  was  that  the  end  of  the  tragedy  of  the  Black  Tower? 
No,  it  was  only  the  beginning.  Afterwards  Herod  be¬ 
lieved  the  murdered  man  was  alive  and  was  terrified.  Not 
all  the  multitudinous  seas  could  wash  the  stain  of  the 
prophet’s  blood  out  of  the  consciences  of  the  guilty  pair.v 
Presently  the  scheming  Herodias  got  Herod  into  trouble 
at  Rome,  and  he  was  banished  into  France  and  then  into 
Spain,  where  they  both  died  in  exile.  They  went  down 
to  their  dishonored  graves  stung  with  disgrace  and  fear 
and  have  been  pilloried  before  all  the  ages  for  their  crime. 
Once  more  it  was  terribly  confirmed  that  the  wages  of  sin 
is  death. 

Thus  John  the  Baptist  went  to  his  cross  before  his 
Master.  “And  when  his  disciples  heard  of  it,  they  came 
and  took  up  his  corpse,  and  laid  it  in  a  tomb.” 

15.  Five  Thousand  Fed 

Matthew  14:13-23;  Mark  6:30-46;  Luke  9:10-17; 

John  6 : 1-15 

After  the  execution  of  John  the  Baptist,  Jesus  with  his 


OP  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


193 


disciples  crossed  Lake  Galilee  to  the  northeastern  shore 
for  safety  and  rest.  No  sooner  had  he  started  than  the 
people  followed  after  him  in  boats  and  around  the  shore 
so  that  presently  a  great  multitude  was  gathered  before 
them.  That  was  the  end  of  his  rest,  and  the  work  of 
teaching  and  healing  began. 

Evening  drew  on  and  a  difficulty  loomed  up.  What  was 
to  be  done  with  all  these  people?  Jesus  intimated  that 
they  must  be  fed.  The  perplexed  disciples  took  stock  of 
their  provisions  and  put  their  heads  together  and  were 
at  their  wits’  end.  Already  the  sun  was  dropping  behind 
the  western  hills  and  the  chill  of  evening  was  in  the  air. 
Something  must  be  done  quickly ;  what  could  it  be  ?  They 
thought  of  the  multitudes;  they  thought  of  their  few 
loaves  and  fishes ;  they  thought  of  everything,  except 
Christ.  It  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  them  that 
he  could  help  them  out  of  their  difficulty.  Sometimes  in 
our  perplexities  we  think  of  everything — except  God. 

At  last  they  hit  upon  a  way  out  of  their  trouble  and 
came  to  Jesus  with  their  plan.  4 'Send  the  multitude  away, 
that  they  may  go  into  the  villages,  and  buy  themselves 
victuals.”  Send  them  away!  How  natural  the  sugges¬ 
tion,  how  easy  the  solution,  what  a  quick  riddance  of  the 
burden.  We  must  not,  however,  be  too  hard  on  these 
disciples,  as  we  would  probably  have  thought  of  the  same 
thing  and  their  plan  seems  to  be  only  common  sense.  But 
nothing  can  make  bigger  blunders  than  common  sense 
when  it  forgets  God. 

This  thought  may  get  into  our  theology  and  church  life. 
A  church  that  makes  itself  exclusive  and  welcomes  people 
of  a  certain  class  and  gives  the  cold  shoulder  to  others,  a 
silk-robed,  kid-gloved  Christianity  that  separates  itsqlf 
from  the  common  crowd,  is  saying  in  tones  that  are  not 
misunderstood,  Send  them  away.  The  anti-missionary 
spirit  that  says,  We  have  heathen  enough  at  home,  is  say¬ 
ing  to  the  heathen  abroad,  Send  them  away.  When  in  any 
way  wo  have  made  sure  of  our  own  basket  of  provisions 
and  are  not  willing  to  share  it  with  others,  but  look  with 
indifference  on  their  hunger,  we  are  bidding  them  to  take 
themselves  off  and  buy  bread  for  themselves. 

"Send  them  away,”  said  the  disciples.  "They  need  not 


194 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


depart/  ’  instantly  said  Jesns.  Any  plan  that  would  send 
people  away  from  Jesus  Christ  is  no  part  of  his  gospel. 
Here  is  the  contrast  between  the  disciples  and  the  Mas¬ 
ter:  the  one  short  of  means,  narrow  and  selfish  and  want¬ 
ing  to  send  people  away;  and  the  other  full  of  resources, 
broad  and  sympathetic  and  having  abundance  and  welcome 
for  all. 

When  asked  what  they  had,  Andrew,  who  seldom  had 
anything  to  say,  ventured  the  remark,  “There  is  a  lad 
here,  which  hath  five  barley  loaves,  and  two  small  fishes: 
but  what  are  they  among  so  many?”  Evidently  Andrew 
did  not  think  much  of  this  boy  with  his  pitifully  few 
loaves  and  “small  fishes”  and  thought  they  were  hardly 
worth  mentioning.  This  is  what  Moses  thought  of  his 
power  of  speech  when  God  commanded  him  to  go  and 
speak  to  Pharaoh.  “0  Lord,”  he  said  in  effect,  “I  can’t 
speak:  send  Aaron.”  Yet  Moses  spoke  great  thundering 
words  that  shook  Egypt,  but  who  can  quote  anything  that 
Aaron  ever  said?  This  is  what  we  often  think  when  we 
are  called  to  do  a  work.  With  our  few  means  and  narrow 
opportunities  we  have  no  chance!  Give  us  large  means 
and  big  opportunities  and  see  what  we  will  do. 

What  did  Jesus  say?  “Bring  them  hither  to  me.”  The 
Master  was  not  alarmed  at  the  smallness  of  the  means. 
What  the  disciples  despised  he  took  and  with  them  wrought 
astonishing  results.  It  is  not  the  means,  but  the  power 
behind  the  means  that  does  the  work.  Give  Samson  only 
the  jawbone  of  an  ass  and  with  it  he  will  slay  a  thousand 
Philistines.  Give  David  only  a  smooth  stone  out  of  a 
brook  and  with  it  he  will  bring  tumbling  down  huge  blus¬ 
tering  Goliath  who  had  defied  the  whole  army  of  Israel. 
Give  the  chemist  only  scum  and  dross  and  out  of  it  he 
will  extract  exquisite  perfumes  and  the  most  beautiful  col¬ 
ors.  Give  the  poet  the  rudest  pen  and  with  it  he  will  write 
musical  lines  and  fairy  visions.  There  are  undreamed-of 
possibilities  in  us  and  in  the  means  in  our  hands  if  we  will 
only  develop  them. 

Jesus  now  had  the  multitudes  sit  down  on  the  green 
grass  in  ranks  of  hundreds  and  fifties.  What  was  this? 
Business  efficiency,  order  and  organization,  division  of 
labor.  We  must  cut  up  our  work  and  apportion  it  out  so 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


195 


that  each  one  will  have  a  definite  part,  and  the  work  can 
then  be  done  without  confusion  and  overlapping  and 
waste. 

The  bread  was  then  passed,  and  “they  all  did  eat  and 
were  filled.”  When  the  multitude  saw  these  few  loaves 
started  out,  perhaps  those  around  the  distant  edges  of  the 
crowd  thought  and  feared  that  the  bread  would  never 
reach  them.  But  nearer  and  nearer  it  came,  the  mysterious 
supply  never  running  short,  until  the  last  rank  was 
reached  and  the  last  child  was  fed.  Let  us  never  fear  that 
the  mercy  and  resources  of  God  will  ever  fail. 

“Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,”  said  Jesus, 
“that  nothing  be  lost.”  And  they  gathered  up  of  these 
fragments  twelve  baskets.  Was  not  this  strange  frugality 
on  the  part  of  him  who  could  create  such  abundance  ?  But 
unbounded  resources  and  the  largest  liberality  may  be 
closely  connected  with  the  strictest  economy.  The  Hand 
that  could  create  a  hundred  loaves  did  not  disdain  to  pick 
up  a  crumb. 

God  with  all  his  infinitude  of  resources  never  wastes 
anything,  or  lets  any  fragment  fall  useless  and  forgotten 
out  of  his  hand.  Wasting  fragments  has  ruined  many  a 
business,  and  by-products  are  often  a  source  of  large 
profits.  Waste  no  fragments  of  time  or  bread  or  opportu¬ 
nities  of  doing  good,  but  gather  them  up  and  keep  them 
for  the  hour  of  need  and  service. 

16.  Jesus  Breaks  with  the  Pharisees 
Matthew  15 : 1-20 ;  Mark  7 : 1-23 

“Why  do  thy  disciples  transgress  the  tradition  of  the 
elders?  for  they  wash  not  their  hands  when  they  eat 
bread?”  The  question  thus  put  to  Jesus  by  the  Pharisees 
and  scribes  does  not  seem  to  raise  any  vital  point  or  por¬ 
tend  any  serious  consequences;  yet  it  is  the  spark  of  fire 
that  kindled  into  a  white  heat  the  whole  issue  between 
him  and  them;  it  is  the  gleam  of  the  dagger  with  which 
they  meant  to  pierce  his  heart.  Here  Jesus  breaks  with  the. 
Pharisees  and  this  point  marks  the  beginning  of  the  end.. 

The  washing  of  the  hands,  to  which  the  Pharisees  re¬ 
ferred  in  their  question,  was  not  tfee  Qt’din&ry  cleansing  of 


196 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  hands,  but  a  ceremonial  requirement  of  the  most  com¬ 
plicated  kind.  Before  eating,  the  hands  had  to  be  washed 
by  an  elaborate  process  involving  many  precise  ways  of 
holding  them  and  pouring  water  on  them  and  letting  it 
drain  and  drip  off,  which  had  to  be  most  carefully  and  rig¬ 
idly  observed.  There  were  twenty-six  rules  for  this  rite  in 
the  morning  alone,  and  to  violate  or  neglect  them  was  de¬ 
clared  to  be  a  sin  as  bad  as  adultery  or  murder  and  wor¬ 
thy  of  death ! 

It  is  easy  to  see  what  would  become  of  the  spirit  of  relig¬ 
ion  when  caught  in  such  a  system :  it  would  be  constricted 
and  strangled  to  death.  The  outer  material  form  grad¬ 
ually  buried  and  crushed  the  inner  spiritual  reality.  More 
and  more  care  and  importance  were  attached  to  mechanical 
acts  and  less  and  less  to  spiritual  states. 

Not  only  so,  but  the  mechanical  form  came  to  be  used 
as  a  deliberate  means  to  kill  off  spiritual  life  and  as  a  mask 
to  hide  all  manner  of  wickedness.  While  the  Pharisees 
were  so  punctilious  and  ostentatious  in  observing  their  own 
traditional  inventions  and  were  ready  to  persecute  even 
unto  death  any  one  who  dared  to  neglect  them,  they  were 
robbing  widows,  refusing  to  support  their  parents  and  rev¬ 
eling  in  all  manner  of  iniquity.  They  were  like  sepulchres, 
outwardly  white  but  inwardly  full  of  dead  men’s  bones. 
This  has  ever  been  the  tendency  of  ceremonial  religion. 

What  did  Jesus  say  in  answer  to  this  apparently  inno¬ 
cent  question  as  to  the  practice  of  his  disciples  ?  It  seemed 
to  be  only  a  trivial  point  of  personal  habit,  but  he  dis¬ 
cerned  its  true  import  and  far-reaching  consequences.  It 
was  a  critical  moment  with  him;  he  stood  facing  a  temp¬ 
tation  as  perilous  as  that  which  assailed  him  in  the  wil¬ 
derness.  His  kingdom  was  at  stake,  and  he  faced  the  Phar¬ 
isees  as  boldly  as  he  had  faced  the  devil.  “And  he  an¬ 
swered  and  said  unto  them,  Why  do  ye  also  transgress  the 
commandment  of  God  because  of  your  tradition?”  He 
then  charged  them  with  having  set  aside  and  violated  one 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  of  Moses,  even  the  one  bidding 
them  to  honor  father  and  mother,  with  their  cunning  de¬ 
vices,  again  denounced  them  for  having  “made  void  the 
Word  of  God  because  of  your  tradition,”  and  quoted  Isaiah 
against  them. 


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197 


Then  calling  the  multitude  he  cried  out,  as  if  to  all  the 
world,  “Hear,  and  understand:  not  that  which  goeth  into 
the  mouth  defileth  a  man ;  but  that  which  cometh  out  of  the 
mouth,  this  defileth  a  man.”  Not  that  which  is  outside  a 
man  and  passes  into  his  body  can  do  him  any  spiritual 
harm,  but  that  which  is  inside  and  comes  out  of  his  heart. 
Thus  Jesus  boldly  broke  with  the  Pharisees  and  trampled 
upon  their  human  traditions.  He  would  have  none  of  their 
petty  rules  and  regulations  as  a  necessary  condition  of 
living  a  religious  life. 

It  is  true  that  he  observed  and  instituted  simple  ordi¬ 
nances  himself,  but  these  were  only  means  to  an  end  and 
not  the  end  itself.  His  kingdom  did  not  consist  in  meat 
and  drink,  ordinances  and  ceremonies,  images  and  incense 
and  all  the  gorgeous  spectacle  of  the  stately  temple  or  ca¬ 
thedral,  but  in  righteousness  and  peace,  a  pure  heart  and 
a  right  life. 

The  answer  he  gave  that  day  was  a  turning  point  in  his 
career.  It  shattered  the  whole  Pharisaic  system  and  made 
him  a  terrible  heretic.  From  that  hour  he  was  a  doomed 
man  in  the  eyes  of  these  ecclesiastical  authorities.  So 
deeply  were  they  wounded,  so  open  was  their  resentment, 
that  the  alarmed  disciples  said  to  Jesus,  “Knowest  thou 
that  the  Pharisees  were  offended,  after  they  heard  this 
saying  V9  Well  did  Jesus  know  this  and  know  the  price 
he  would  have  to  pay,  but  he  calmly  answered,  “Every 
plant  which  my  heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted,  shall 
be  rooted  up.  ’ 9  He  was  teaching,  not  simply  for  that  time, 
but  for  all  time,  and  he  foresaw  the  final  victory. 

Tradition  has  its  place  in  religion,  as  in  all  things  else. 
It  stores  up  the  accumulated  experience  and  wisdom  of 
the  past  and  hands  it  down  to  us  as  our  precious  inherit¬ 
ance.  The  race  would  never  get  forward  if  every  genera¬ 
tion  had  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  The  Bible  itself  is  sim¬ 
ply  so  much  tradition :  it  is  the  religious  experience  of  the 
chosen  people  as  recorded  and  interpreted  for  us  by  proph¬ 
ets  and  apostles.  As  such  it  is  of  immense  value  to  us, 
saving  us  from  fighting  our  way  up  out  of  barbarism  and 
heathenism  and  planting  our  feet  on  the  summits  of  Chris¬ 
tian  truth  and  attainment  won  by  illuminated  and  Holy 
men.  Jesus  himself  used  tradition.  He  did  not  cast  away 


198 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


all  that  had  been  done  by  Moses  and  Isaiah  and  begin 
anew,  but  he  adopted  and  adapted  their  materials;  he  in¬ 
troduced  his  religion,  not  by  revolution,  but  by  evolution. 

Nevertheless,  tradition  has  its  limits  and  dangers.  It  is 
to  be  used  as  so  much  valuable  material  for  building,  but 
not  as  a  fixed  and  finished  structure.  It  furnishes  us  with 
seeds  and  roots,  but  these  are  not  to  be  kept  from  sprout¬ 
ing  :  they  are  to  be  made  to  grow  into  their  proper  flower 
and  fruit.  When  tradition  is  used  as  a  bond  to  bind  our 
brains  and  constrict  our  hearts,  when  it  becomes  an  artifi¬ 
cial  system  of  human  invention  and  not  a  vital  breath  of 
the  Spirit,  then  we  are  to  break  through  it  and  trample 
upon  it  that  we  may  win  our  way  to  our  liberty  and  our 
right  to  grow.  Tradition,  however  ancient  and  sacred, 
must  always  be  tested  by  living  truth  and  experience. 

This  break  with  the  Pharisees  marks  the  practical  close 
of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  in  Galilee.  He  now  withdrew  into 
the  region  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  returned  through  Decap- 
olis  to  Galilee,  where  he  fed  the  four  thousand  and  had 
some  further  relations  with  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees, 
but  the  year  of  popularity  was  now  ending  and  was  soon 
to  enter  upon  the  year  of  opposition. 

17.  The  Interview  at  Caesarea  Philippi 
Matthew  16 : 13-20 ;  Mark  8 :  27-30 ;  Luke  9 : 18-22 

Jesus  with  his  disciples  now  went  north  to  Caesarea 
Philippi  with  the  object  of  having  a  close  private  interview 
with  them  and  making  a  momentous  revelation  to  them. 

When  they  were  far  from  the  busy  scene  in  which  they 
had  been  moving,  Jesus  put  to  them  the  question,  “Who 
do  men  say  that  I  am?”  This  question  is  still  throbbing 
in  the  heart  of  our  civilization.  First  asked  by  an  obscure 
Galilean  in  that  far-off  solitude,  it  has  come  thundering 
down  the  ages  and  is  the  mightiest  question  in  the  world 
today. 

Ideas  determine  life  and  in  the  long  run  rule  the  world. 
What  men  think  is  the  inner  force  that  shapes  what  they 
are  and  do.  The  theories  that  are  generally  held  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  industry,  wealth,  government,  art,  morals  and  re¬ 
ligion,  mold  human  society  into  all  its  forms,  as  the  hidden 


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life  of  a  tree  fashions  every  leaf  and  bud.  What  men 
think  of  Christ  is  the  master  f  orcer  of  the  world  and  more 
than  anything  else  shapes  its  life. 

The  disciples  gave  the  various  answers  men  were  giving. 
The  answers  differed,  but  they  all  agreed  that  Jesus  was 
an  extraordinary  person,  at  least  a  prophet,  a  mysterious 
personality  containing  an  element  of  the  supernatural. 
Men  are  still  giving  various  answers,  but  they  all  take 
high  ground  as  to  bis  character  and  work.  The  answer 
that  Jesus  was  a  myth,  or  a  dupe,  or  an  imposter  is  no 
longer  tolerated.  Even  the  greatest  sceptics  see  something 
in  this  man  that  they  cannot  explain  on  ordinary  principles 
and  they  pay  tributes  to  him  that  fall  little  short  of 
divinity. 

Renan,  sceptic  as  to  the  supernatural,  ends  his  Life  of 
J esus  with  these  words :  1 ‘  Whatever  may  be  the  surprises 
of  the  future,  Jesus  will  never  be  surpassed.  His  worship 
will  grow  young  without  ceasing ;  his  legend  will  call  forth 
tears  without  end;  his  sufferings  will  melt  the  noblest 
hearts ;  all  ages  will  proclaim  that,  among  the  sons  of  men, 
there  is  is  none  born  greater  than  Jesus.”  Charles  Lamb 
once  said  to  a  company  of  friends:  “If  Shakespeare 
should  enter  the  room  we  should  all  rise;  if  Jesus  Christ 
should  enter,  every  one  would  kneel.” 

Jesus  now  turned  the  general  question  into  the  sharp 
personal  inquiry,  “But  who  say  ye  that  I  am?”  Impor¬ 
tant.  as  is  the  general  question,  far  more  important  to  each 
one  is  this  individual  inquiry.  No  one  can  escape  its  keen 
personal  point.  A  neutral  attitude  is  impossible.  What¬ 
ever  we  do  is  a  decision;  and  nothing  else  goes  so  deep 
down  and  so  far  out  into  our  lives  as  who  we  say  Jesus  is. 

“Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,”  ex¬ 
claimed  the  impulsive  Peter.  For  once  Peter  was  grandly 
right.  He  hit  the  truth  at  the  center.  His  great  confes¬ 
sion  exalts  Christ  as  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  lifting  him 
above  humanity  and  crowning  him  with  divinity. 

The  great  confession  was  instantly  capped  with  a  great 
blessing.  “Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona.”  Faith  on 
the  Son  of  God  is  the  root  of  all  spiritual  blessing,  and 
every  duty  instantly  brings  its  own  reward.  The  next 
blessing  for  Peter  was  that  he  should  be  a  foundation  stono 


200 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


in  Christ’s  church:  “Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock 
I  will  build  my  church ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre¬ 
vail  against  it.”  There  is  a  play  upon  the  words  in  the 
Greek  which  may  be  brought  out  by  translating:  “Thou 
art  rock,  and  upon  this  Rock  I  will  build  my  church.  ’  ’ 

Few  passages  of  Scripture  have  been  the  subject  of  so 
much  controversy.  The  two  main  interpretations  are,  first, 
that  the  rock  on  which  Christ  will  build  his  church  is  Peter 
himself,  and,  second,  that  this  rock  is  the  faith  he  has  just 
confessed.  The  two  views  may  be  combined  into  the  view 
that  it  is  Peter  as  making  this  confession  that  is  the  foun¬ 
dation  rock  of  the  church.  The  Rock  of  Ages  and  chief 
corner  stone  on  which  the  church  is  built  is  Christ  himself, 
but  on  this  Rock  is  laid  the  foundation  of  apostles  and 
prophets  (Eph.  2:20).  All  believers  are  built  into  Christ’s 
spiritual  house  as  living  stones  (I  Pet.  2:5)  and  are  thus  a 
foundation  for  those  that  come  after  them  and  build  on 
them. 

And  now  across  the  path  of  the  disciples  for  the  first 
time  fell  the  fateful  shadow  of  the  cross.  From  that  time 
began  Jesus  to  part  the  veil  of  the  future  before  them  and 
show  them  things  to  come.  He  saw  his  path  running 
straight  up  to  Jerusalem  into  the  murderous  hatred  of  the 
priests  and  Pharisees ;  beyond  their  hatred  he  saw  the  ter¬ 
rible  cross  standing  with  its  arms  outstretched  waiting  to 
clasp  and  crush  him  in  an  agony  of  death  in  their  bloody 
embrace;  and  beyond  the  cross  he  saw  the  power  and 
splendor  of  the  resurrection  morning.  Jesus  had  spared 
his  disciples  this  painful  disclosure  until  they  were  able  to 
bear  it,  and  God  often  hides  things  from  us  in  mercy  and 
reveals  them  to  us  only  when  we  are  ready  for  them  and 
can  stand  the  strain. 

Impetuous  Peter  could  not  endure  this  disclosure  and 
broke  out  in  the  exclamation,  “Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord: 
this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.”  This  was  just  like  Peter,  un¬ 
loosing  his  self-restraint  and  speaking  unwisely  with  his 
tongue.  The  plan  of  redemption  unfolded  by  Jesus  and 
running  back  through  eternity,  was  not  to  Peter’s  liking 
and  he  proposed  to  stop  it!  How  true  is  this  to  Jeter’s 
short-sighted  vision  and  impulsive  nature. 

But  Jesus  made  short  work  with  Peter’s  presumption. 


OP  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


201 


He  unmasked  him  as  an  agent  of  Satan  and  bade  him  from 
his  presence;  he  showed  him  up  as  a  stumbling-block  in 
the  way ;  and  he  exposed  the  root  of  his  folly  in  a  worldly 
mind.  Never  had  such  withering  words  from  the  lips  of 
the  Master  fallen  upon  poor  Peter ;  but  he  richly  deserved 
the  reproof.  This  is  what  comes  of  our  attempting  to 
hinder  God’s  ways  and  to  put  finishing  touches  on  his 
plan.  We  frequently  slide  down  into  worldly  views  and 
utter  foolish  speeches. 

Jesus  was  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  his  duty  and  his 
cross  by  any  such  suggestion.  He  had  set  his  face  stead¬ 
fastly  towards  Jerusalem  and  thither  would  he  go.  The 
way  of  Christ  is  not  the  way  of  the  world.  “Then  said 
Jesus  unto  his  disciples,  If  any  man  will  come  after  me, 
let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow 
me.” 

18.  The  Transfiguration 
Matthew  18 : 1-13 ;  Mark  9 :  2-13 ;  Luke  9 :  28-36 

It  is  significant  that  in  all  the  three  Gospels  in  which  it 
is  recorded  the  transfiguration,  which  probably  occurred 
on  or  near  Mount  Hermon,  is  closely  connected  with  the 
announcement  that  Jesus  had  just  made  of  his  coming 
crucifixion.  This  unexpected  and  startling  revelation  must 
have  shrouded  the  disciples  in  deep  gloom:  it  seemed  the 
utter  disappointment  and  destruction  of  all  their  hopes. 
They  needed  a  glimpse  of  the  divinity  that  was  hidden  in 
Jesus  and  of  the  glory  that  lay  beyond  the  cross  to  dis¬ 
perse  the  darkness  and  sustain  and  inspire  them.  Possibly 
also  Jesus  himself,  as  he  drew  near  to  his  passion,  needed 
a  fresh  assurance  of  the  Father’s  presence  and  love.  < 

The  transfiguration  met  this  need  for  both  disciple  and 
Master.  It  was  a  revelation  of  power  that  the  cross  could 
not  crush.  It  shot  its  splendor  through  the  gloom  and 
kindled  despondent  faith  and  hope  into  new  strength  and 
joy. 

The  transfiguration  is  a  mountain  scene  and  ranks  with 
Sinai  and  Calvary  among  the  loftiest  summits  of  sacred 
story.  Jesus  with  Peter  and  James  and  John,  his  most  inti¬ 
mate  and  trusted  disciples,  climbed  the  mountain  slope  to 


202 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


a  place  of  prayer.  It  was  night,  and  Jesus  engaged  in 
communion  with  the  Father. 

Presently  the  disciples  were  aware  that  a  mysterious 
change  was  being  wrought  in  the  dim  and  dusky  figure  of 
the  Master.  His  face  began  to  shine  and  his  clothing  to 
emit  gleams  and  sparkles  of  light.  The  strange  luminosity 
grew  into  effulgence  until  his  countenance  was  radiant  and 
his  raiment  dazzling  white.  His  whole  person  seemed 
steeped  in  splendor,  a  glory  from  within  was  streaming 
through  the  veil  of  his  flesh. 

There  is  a  mystery  here  whose  border  we  may  not  cross. 
There  were  divine  possibilities  in  J esus  of  which  this  trans¬ 
figuration  gives  us  a  glimpse  and  hint.  It  would  seem 
that  his  divinity  was  hidden  by  the  veil  of  his  humanity 
and  that  for  a  moment  its  glory  was  kindled  and  burned 
through. 

In  a  weaker  degree  Moses  was  transfigured  when,  after 
his  forty  days  of  communion  with  God  on  Sinai,  his  face 
shone;  and  they  that  looked  on  Stephen  at  his  trial  “saw 
his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel.7 7  Thus  even 
the  human  spirit,  when  intensely  kindled,  shines  through 
the  flesh  and  in  a  degree  transfigures  it.  Of  Daniel  Web¬ 
ster  it  is  recorded  that,  for  several  hours  after  he  had  de¬ 
livered  his  great  oration  at  Bunker  Hill,  his  face  wore  an 
indescribably  grand  expression  that  awed  those  who  came 
into  his  presence.  Character  carves  the  countenance.  Syd¬ 
ney  Smith  said  of  Francis  Horner  that  the  Ten  Command¬ 
ments  were  written  on  his  face.  “Human  physiognomy,’7 
says  Victor  Hugo,  “is  formed  by  the  conscience  and  the 
life,  and  is  the  result  of  a  multitude  of  mysterious  excava¬ 
tions.77  Some  people  have  become  so  sanctified  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  that  they  wear  a  heavenly  aspect  and  are 
verily  transfigured  into  the  likeness  of  Christ. 

It  was  as  he  prayed  that  Jesus  was  transfigured,  and  it 
was  after  forty  days  of  communion  with  Jehovah  that  the 
face  of  Moses  shone.  Prayer  kindles  the  soul  into  intense 
consciousness  of  God,  and  it  is  then  that  the  glory  of  holi¬ 
ness  shines  through. 

Two  visitors  from  the  heavenly  world  now  appeared 
upon  the  scene,  Moses  and  Elijah,  themselves  shining  with 
glory,  and  talked  with  Jesus.  Few  facts  in  the  gospel 


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203 


story  are  so  deeply  and  richly  significant.  Moses,  repre¬ 
senting  the  law,  and  Elijah,  representing  the  prophets,  are 
here  associated  with  Jesns,  the  Messiah  whom  they  foretold 
and  prepared  the  way  for,  thus  binding  the  Old  apd  the 
New  Dispensations  together  into  unity.  Redemption  is  the 
same  through  all  ages  and  forms  one  plan. 

Immortality  is  here  brought  to  light.  These  are  travel¬ 
ers  returned  from  the  other  world,  clothed  in  the  same 
bodies  transfigured  with  light  prophetic  of  the  resurrection 
body.  They  were  in  the  possession  of  the  same  faculties 
and  speech  that  they  had  in  this  world  so  that  death  and 
heaven  do  not  change  the  essential  constitution  and  indi¬ 
viduality  of  the  soul.  They  talked  with  Jesus  about  “his 
decease  which  he  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem”  so  that 
redemption  is  still  the  subject  of  interest  in  heaven  and  its 
point  of  intensest  glory  is  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  the  world.  If  heavenly  inhabitants  are  so  inter¬ 
ested  in  this  redeeming  love,  they  must  find  it  a  subject  of 
greater  glory  than  all  the  starry  spaces  and  splendors 
through  which  they  may  pass,  and  there  is  no  greater  and 
worthier  subject  that  can  engage  our  minds. 

As  the  visitors  were  departing  Peter  spoke  up  in  a  be¬ 
wildered  state  of  mind  and  proposed  to  build  three  taber¬ 
nacles  that  they  might  remain  on  that  mountaintop.  It 
was  good  to  be  there,  but  that  was  no  place  to  stay.  Relig¬ 
ious  rapture  should  not  become  a  luxury  that  we  wish  to 
enjoy  and  that  causes  us  to  forget  the  great  world  below 
lying  in  sin  and  sorrow  and  needing  our  help  and  healing. 

A  cloud  now  overshadowed  them  and  a  voice  came  out 
of  the  cloud,  saying,  “This  is  my  beloved  Son:  hear  him.” 
The  cloud  was  a  sjunbol  of  God’s  presence,  but  one  that 
hid  him  from  view :  the  voice  was  the  voice  of  God,  setting 
his  seal  on  his  Son.  The  cloud  concealed  and  the  voice 
revealed.  The  cloud  shut  the  mystery  and  splendor  of  the 
Father’s  face  out  of  sight,  but  the  voice  brought  him  near 
and  declared  his  will.  It  is  the  glory  of  God  to  conceal  a 
thing.  He  always  hides  from  us  much  that  we  could  not 
bear,  but  lets  us  know  enough  to  have  a  clear  path  for  our 
feet. 

The  voice  died  away  in  the  silence,  the  cloud  melted  into 
the  invisible,  and  Jesus  was  found  alone.  The  transfig- 


204 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


uration  glory  had  vanished  from  his  person  and  he  was 
his  ordinary  self.  The  vision  splendid  had  faded  into  the 
light  of  common  day.  Intense  ecstatic  experiences  cannot 
last.  Nerves  would  snap  and  the  brain  break  down.  We 
cannot  always  live  on  the  mountaintop. 

They  went  down  from  the  height  to  the  plain  below  to 
heal  an  epileptic  boy.  Jesus  transmuted  that  great  white 
splendor  on  the  mountaintop  into  a  shining  stream  of 
mercy  to  heal  sick  and  troubled  people  and  to  irrigate  the 
wilderness  of  the  world  and  make  it  rejoice  and  blossom 
of  rose.  Splendid  visions  and  fine  emotions  are  vain  unless 
they  are  carried  down  to  the  plain  and  transmuted  into 
sympathy  and  service. 

The  disciples  held  their  peace  and  told  no  man.  They 
did  not  boast  of  their  experience  and  blab  it  out.  Some 
things  we  should  not  tell.  Let  us  climb  the  mount  of 
prayer  and  communion  until  we  are  transfigured  before 
God :  then  let  us  come  down  into  the  world  and  say  noth¬ 
ing  about  it,  but  get  to  work  and  heal  some  troubled  soul. 

The  mount  for  vision ;  but  below 
The  paths  of  daily  duty  go, 

And  nobler  life  therein  shall  own 
The  pattern  on  the  mountain  shown. 


CHAPTER  V 


THIRD  YEAR :  THE  LATER  JUDEAN  MINISTRY 
THE  YEAR  OF  OPPOSITION 

The  transfiguration  may  be  taken  as  marking  the  end 
of  the  Galilean  ministry.  Although  he  did  some  further 
work  there,  yet  his  ministry  around  the  Galilean  lake  was 
now  practically  closed.  So  quickly  had  the  promising  pop¬ 
ularity  of  the  opening  and  middle  course  of  his  career  in 
Galilee  subsided  into  suspicion  and  growing  hostility.  The 
end  was  now  looming  into  view  and  could  no  longer  be  post¬ 
poned.  Jesus  steadfastly  set  his  face  towards  Jerusalem, 
and  neither  the  mistaken  opposition  of  friends,  as  of  Peter 
at  Caesarea  Philippi,  nor  the  growing  opposition  of  avowed 
enemies,  could  deter  or  delay  his  proceeding  along  the  road 
of  duty  towards  his  fate  on  the  cross. 

1.  The  Man  Born  Blind.  John  9. 

Passing  by  many  incidents  that  happened  on  the  way 
on  the  final  journey  of  Jesus  to  Jerusalem,  we  again  find 
him  in  the  capital  city.  He  attended  the  Feast  of  Taber¬ 
nacles,  which  was  the  national  thanksgiving  week  of  the 
Jews  and  was  celebrated  in  October,  and  a  little  later  oc¬ 
curred  the  incident  we  shall  now  consider.  He  was  now 
under  strict  surveillance,  and  the  Pharisees  were  keeping 
close  watch  on  his  doings.  The  healing  of  a  blind  man 
precipitated  the  conflict  and  hurried  the  course  of  affairs 
towards  the  fatal  end. 

As  Jesus  passed  by  this  man  blind  from  birth  the  disci¬ 
ples  were  moved  to  ask  him,  “Master,  who  did  sin,  this 
man,  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  ’  ’  The  pitiful 
sight  of  this  man  only  suggested  to  them  a  cool,  critical, 
cruel,  theological  question:  not,  How  can  we  get  this  man 
out  of  his  blindness?  but,  How  did  he  get  in?  They  were 

205 


206 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


only  curious  to  know  how  the  trouble  began;  not,  how  it 
might  be  ended.  Not  only  so,  but  they  went  the  length  of 
fastening  on  the  unfortunate  man  a  cruel  suspicion;  and 
if  they  could  not  charge  it  to  him,  then  they  would  unload 
it  on  his  parents.  This  is  not  altogether  ancient  history. 
We  may  do  this  very  thing.  It  is  always  easier  to  be  criti¬ 
cal  than  correct. 

Jesus  answered,  “  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his 
parents:  but  that  the  works  of  God  should  be  manifest  in 
him.”  All  misfortunes  cannot  be  connected  with  personal 
guilt.  The  Book  of  Job  disposed  of  that  theory.  Jesus  did 
not  stop  to  inquire  and  did  not  care  how  the  man  got  into 
trouble :  his  only  concern  was  to  get  him  out. 

Here  is  another  contrast  between  the  disciples  and  the 
Master.  In  the  presence  of  pitiful  human  affliction  they 
could  only  think  of  a  curious  theological  question,  he  was 
filled  with  practical  compassion ;  they  were  concerned  only 
with  how  the  trouble  began,  he  was  concerned  only  with 
how  it  might  be  ended;  they  were  disposed  to  add  to  the 
poor  man’s  misfortune  the  further  charge  of  personal  fault, 
he  was  disposed  to  take  both  misfortune  and  fault  away. 
They  coldly  speculated,  he  acted.  The  poor  man’s  ex¬ 
tremity  was  his  opportunity. 

In  the  presence  of  the  world’s  blindness  and  sin  and  sor¬ 
row,  let  us  not  coolly  speculate  as  to  causes  and  attribute 
misfortunes  to  other  people’s  fault,  but  touch  blind  eyes 
with  healing  hands  and  put  our  shoulders  under  others’ 
burdens. 

Action  immediately  followed.  Means  were  used.  Even 
in  his  miracles  Jesus  kept  near  to  nature,  and  the  natural 
and  supernatural  may  be  closer  together  than  we  think. 
In  using  salve  of  clay  on  the  eyes  of  this  blind  man  the 
great  Physician  honored  the  medical  art.  The  ‘  ‘  faith  cure  ’  ’ 
undivorced  from  any  means  receives  little  sanction  from 
this  act.  Salvation  itself  is  not  a  magical  process,  but  defi¬ 
nite  means  are  used  and  it  follows  a  line  of  strict  causa¬ 
tion.  “ Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth:  thy  word,  is 
truth.  ’  ’ 

The  blind  man  himself  was  given  a  part  in  the  heal¬ 
ing.  “Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam.”  Jesus  gave  effi¬ 
ciency  to  the  means,  but  the  man  himself  had  to  use  them. 


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Had  he  refused  or  neglected  to  do  this,  his  eyes  would 
never  have  been  opened.  Divine  sovereignty  and  human 
agency  must  work  together  at  every  point. 

“He  went  his  way  therefore,  and  washed,  and  came  see¬ 
ing.’7  A  new  world  opened  before  his  wondering  eyes,  at 
first  dimly  and  then  in  increasing  clearness.  The  valley 
of  the  Kedron  rolled  below  him  in  a  flood  of  color,  the 
temple  flashed  its  golden  roof  above  him,  the  sky  was  pain¬ 
ful  splendor,  the  way  back  was  a  path  of  beauty,  and  he 
saw  the  face  of  Jesus.  And  when  Jesus  opens  our  spiritual 
eyes  we  behold  wondrous  things  and  there  is  a  new  glory 
on  the  very  grass. 

The  return  of  the  blind  beggar  restored  to  sight  created 
a  sensation  among  the  neighbors.  There  was  a  commotion 
among  them  as  they  disputed  as  to  his  very  identity,  but 
he  said,  ‘  ‘  I  am  he.  ’  ’  And  it  took  bravery  to  do  this  as  it 
instantly  drew  upon  him  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  who 
now  had  no  toleration  for  the  unpopular  Nazarene  or  for 
any  one  that  acknowledged  any  relation  with  him. 

Pressed  still  further  and  more  hostilely  on  the  point  the 
restored  man  gave  utterance  to  the  most  direct  and  pow¬ 
erful  evidence  of  faith  any  soul  can  have:  “Whether  he  be 
a  sinner  or  no,  I  know  not ;  one  thing  I  know,  that  whereas 
I  was  blind,  now  I  see.”  What  a  good  creed  is  this 
utterance!  It  is  short,  has  but  one  article,  comes  to  the 
point  and  rests  on  the  rock  of  experience.  Standing  on  this 
fact  we  can  defy  all  opposition  and  doubt. 

At  this  point  the  Pharisees  appear  on  the  scene,  and 
from  this  moment  they  plague  and  pester  the  man  with  all 
kinds  of  questions  to  catch  him  in  a  trap.  They  first  seize 
on  the  fact  that  the  alleged  deed  was  done  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  that  was  condemnation  enough  for  them.  Others 
of  their  number,  however,  took  a  different  point  of  view, 
and  when  they  were  in  danger  of  falling  out  among  them¬ 
selves  they  adopted  another  line  of  attack,  saying,  “We 
know  that  God  spake  unto  Moses:  as  for  this  fellow,  we 
know  whence  he  is.” 

The  man  now  grew  exceedingly  bold  and  delivered  to 
them  a  logical  lecture  on  theology,  concluding  with  the 
unanswerable  declaration,  “If  this  man  were  not  of 
Gad;  he  could  do  nothing.”  Is  not  this  the  strongest  evi- 


208  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

dence  of  the  divinity  and  saving  work  of  Christ  to  this 
day? 

This  reply  enraged  the  proud  Pharisees  beyond  all  self- 
control  and  they  retorted,  ‘ 4  Thou  wast  altogether  born  in 
sin,  and  dost  thou  teach  us?”  Their  pride  could  do  not 
more  than  explode  in  these  words  and  this  act  that  realty 
only  exposed  their  furious  impotence. 

The  closing  scene  is  a  beautiful  one.  Jesus  found  the 
man  and  inquired  of  him,  “Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son 
of  God?”  The  man  answered,  “Who  is  he,  Lord,  that  I 
might  believe  on  him?”  Jesus  was  quick  with  the  full  rev¬ 
elation,  ‘  ‘  Thou  hast  both  seen  him,  and  it  is  he  that  talketh 
with  thee.”  Was  it  not  to  a  disreputable  Samaritan  woman 
that  Jesus  first  revealed  himself  as  the  Messiah?  Did 
not  the  angels  first  announce  the  good  news  of  the  Saviour’s 
birth  to  shepherds?  Verily  not  many  wise  and  mighty 
are  chosen  to  hear  the  best  news  of  God,  but  humble  souls 
who  have  not  been  spoiled  with  their  own  conceit  and 
pride.  Then  came  the  confession,  “Lord,  I  believe.  And 
he  worshiped  him.” 

2.  Mary  and  Martha 

Matthew  26 :  6-13 ;  Mark  14 :  3-9 ;  Luke  10 :  38-42 ; 

John  12:1-11 

After  the  break  with  the  Pharisees  in  Jerusalem  over 
the  healing  of  the  man  born  blind  Jesus  passed  the  rest  of 
his  ministry  outside  the  city  and  chiefly  across  the  Jordan 
in  the  region  of  Perea.  During  this  last  winter  of  his  life, 
28-29  A.  D.,  many  important  incidents  occurred  and  dis¬ 
courses  were  uttered,  such  as  the  bringing  of  the  children 
to  Jesus  (Matthew  18:1-14),  the  sending  forth  of  the 
seventy  disciples  (Luke  10:1-24),  the  healing  of  blind 
Bartimaeus  (Mark  10:46-52),  the  conversion  of  Zacchaeus 
the  tax  collector  (Luke  19: 1-10),  the  rejection  of  the  rich 
young  ruler  (Luke  18:18-23),  the  cleansing  of  ten  lepers 
(Luke  17:11-19),  the  raising  of  Lazarus  (John  11:1-46), 
and  the  great  parables  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  the  Prod¬ 
igal  Son,  and  the  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus.  We  can  only 
take  a  look  into  the  home  of  Mary  and  Martha. 

We  here  (Luke  10:38-42)  find  Jesus  paying  his  first 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


209 


recorded  visit  to  that  house  in  Bethany  which,  more  than 
any  other  place  during  the  last  year  of  his  ministry,  was 
home  to  him.  Here  he  found  rest  and  hospitality  and 
friendship,  and  here  he  spoke  words  that  still  relate  to 
vital  points  in  our  homes.  Jesus  during  his  ministry  had 
no  home  of  his  own,  but  he  gladly  entered  into  homes  and 
irradiated  them  by  his  presence  and  exhibited  behavior 
as  perfect  in  form  as  it  was  beautiful  in  spirit,  and  he  is 
now  making  all  homes  better. 

Two  sisters  were  in  this  home  whose  contrasted  temper¬ 
aments  complicated  their  domestic  relations  and  who  rep¬ 
resent  different  types  of  human  personalities  and  of  Chris¬ 
tian  character  and  service. 

Mary  was  the  passive  sister  who  sat  at  Jesus  *  feet,  a 
rapt  listener  to  his  wonderful  words.  She  is  a  type  of  a 
meditative  person  who  draws  apart  at  times  from  busy 
activities  for  reading,  meditation  and  communion,  sitting 
at  the  feet  of  great  teachers,  thinkers,  poets,  prophets,  and 
entering  into  the  secret  place  of  prayer. 

Martha  was  the  active  sister,  who  when  Jesus  appeared 
as  a  guest  forthwith  set  about  preparing  a  meal,  and 
there  was  a  clatter  of  dishes  out  in  the  kitchen,  and  a 
rushing  around  and  a  general  air  of  haste  and  confusion 
in  the  house.  She  is  a  type  of  an  active  and  practical 
person,  overloaded  with  work,  always  busy  to  the  point 
of  distraction,  buried  in  the  kitchen  or  office  and  seldom 
rising  into  the  higher  calmer  region  of  the  spirit,  super¬ 
abundant  in  labors,  but  deficient  in  meditation. 

These  two  sisters  misunderstood  each  other  and  came 
near  to  clashing  in  the  very  presence  of  Jesus.  And  these 
two  types  may  easily  misunderstand  and  criticize  and 
berate  each  other.  The  pushing  hustler  may  have  small 
respect  for  the  quiet  thinker  who  seems  to  do  nothing 
but  sit  and  read  and  meditate,  and  the'  thinker  may  under¬ 
rate  the  practical  worker  as  a  shallow  and  sordid  person 
and  fail  to  appreciate  his  real  worth  in  the  world. 

We  should  know  that  it  takes  all  kinds  of  people  to 
make  a  world,  different  types  and  temperaments  to  blend 
their  varying  individualities  into  a  stronger  and  richer 
unity,  and  this  should  make  us  broad  and  sympathetic 
in  judging  one  another.  We  have  these  different  tem- 


210 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


peraments  in  the  home  and  church  and  community  and 
we  should  learn  to  understand  and  adjust  ourselves  to 
one  another  and  live  and  work  together  in  mutual  har¬ 
mony. 

The  scene  now  shifts  to  Simon’s  house  and  we  find 
Jesus  a  guest  at  this  table.  Mary  also  was  present,  and 
she  did  a  characteristic  thing  on  this  occasion.  Brooding 
over  the  mystery  of  the  impending  death  of  Jesus  she 
brought  an  alabaster  jar  of  spikenard,  and,  snapping  off 
the  slender  neck,  poured  the  costly  fragrant  ointment  on 
the  Master,  anointing  his  person  and  filling  all  the  room 
with  the  perfume.  It  was  a  beautiful  Oriental  expres¬ 
sion  of  devotion  and  love. 

A  strange  thing  now  occurred.  Some  of  the  disciples 
saw  Mary’s  act  with  surprise  and  indignation,  and  whis¬ 
perings  began  to  pass  around  among  them  and  these  found 
outspoken  expression  from  Judas,  “Why  was  this  waste 
of  ointment  made?  For  it  might  have  been  sold  for  more 
than  three  hundred  pence,  and  have  been  given  to  the 
poor?”  These  rough  fishermen  did  not  appreciate  Mary’s 
fine  act.  They  were  square-headed,  hard-fisted,  practical 
men  used  to  counting  pence,  and  had  no  sentiment 
in  them.  They  thought  that  she  had  wasted  her  costly 
ointment  and  had  nothing  to  show  for  it,  whereas  it  might 
have  been  sold  for  hard  cash  with  which  she  could  have 
done  much  practical  good  and  had  something  to  spare  for 
herself.  If  Mary  loved  Jesus,  why  did  she  not  simply 
tell  him  so  and  save  her  ointment? 

This  pence  view  of  things  is  still  common  enough 
among  us.  There  are  people  who  look  on  all  things  in 
this  light.  They  measure  everything  in  feet  and  pounds, 
and  especially  in  dollars  and  cents.  They  call  for  sta¬ 
tistics  and  refuse  to  believe  in  anything  that  cannot  be 
put  down  in  a  column  of  figures.  They  come  into  a  church 
and  ask  for  the  number  of  converts  and  baptisms  and  fig¬ 
ure  out  how  much  they  cost  apiece  and  make  comparisons 
with  other  churches  and  ministers  to  see  who  are  saving 
or  getting  the  most  people  at  the  least  expense.  Like 
Gradgrind  they  believe  in  ‘  ‘  facts,  Sir,  hard  facts.  ’  ’ 

Now  the  money  view  of  things  often  has  its  time  and 
place  and  then  may  be  decisive.  Statistics  have  their  use 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


211 


and  must  often  be  compiled  and  consulted.  There  is  much 
expenditure  of  money  that  is  waste  and  worse  and  ought 
to  be  stopped.  But  there  is  saving  that  is  loss,  and  there 
is  apparent  waste  that  is  wealth.  The  money  view  may  be 
a  money  vice,  and  in  some  cases  statistics  can  tell  us  every¬ 
thing  except  the  truth. 

The  finest  things  in  the  world  cannot  be  measured  and 
bought  or  sold.  We  can  compute  the  size  and  weight  of 
the  earth,  but  not  the  value  of  the  sunset  and  the  blue 
sky.  We  can  weigh  the  newborn  baby  in  the  scales,  but 
not  the  mother’s  love  for  her  child.  Character  cannot  be 
measured  with  a  tapeline  or  sold  by  the  pound.  Love 
cannot  be  bought  or  sold  in  the  market,  any  more  than 
can  sunbeams  or  bits  of  gorgeously  colored  clouds.  We 
have  slipped  far  away  from  the  spiritual  into  the  material 
when  we  begin  to  talk  of  pence  in  connection  with  devo¬ 
tion  and  love.  Affection,  heart,  spirit,  are  not  in  the  same 
class  with  money  and  cannot  be  compared  with  mountains 
of  gold. 

There  was  one  person  present  on  this  occasion  that 
deeply  appreciated  Mary’s  act:  Jesus.  “Let  her  alone,” 
he  said  to  these  cold  critical  disciples ;  ‘  ‘  why  trouble  ye  her  ? 
she  hath  wrought  a  good  work  on  me.  .  .  .  She  hath 
done  what  she  could.”  No  grander  eulogy  was  ever  pro¬ 
nounced  on  man  or  woman.  It  is  the  brightest  crown  that 
can  be  placed  on  any  human  brow  and  is  a  more  imperish¬ 
able  monument  than  marble  shaft  or  tablet  of  brass.  Yet 
Mary  had  done  no  great  thing  as  men  count  greatness. 
She  was  not  that  finest  idol  of  the  world,  a  woman  of 
genius.  She  had  not  written  a  great  book,  or  charmed 
the  world  with  her  song.  She  had  no  wealth  or  influential 
family  connections.  She  was  only  a  plain  home-keeping 
woman,  not  to  be  distinguished  outwardly  from  countless 
others.  And  she  simply  broke  a  jar  of  ointment  on  Jesus 
as  the  expression  of  her  devotion  to  him.  But  her  fine 
act  greatly  pleased  and  deeply  touched  Jesus  and  cheered 
his  heart. 

This  beautiful  deed  that  men  so  criticized  and  scorned 
has  spread  its  fragrance  through  the  whole  world,  and 
it  is  literally  fulfilled  that  wherever  the  gospel  is  preached 
Mary  receives  her  memorial  of  honor. 


212  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

3.  The  Triumphal  Entry 

Matthew  21 : 1-11 ;  Mark  11 : 1-11 ;  Luke  19 : 29-44 ; 

John  12 : 12-19 

We  have  reached  passion  week  and  enter  upon  the  final 
scenes.  So  important  and  precious  are  its  events  that 
nearly  one-third  of  the  Four  Gospels  and  nearly  one-sev¬ 
enth  of  the  entire  New  Testament  is  devoted  to  this  one 
week. 

On  the  morning  of  Palm  Sunday  there  was  a  stir  in 
Bethany  and  along  the  road  leading  to  Jerusalem.  It 
was  understood  that  Jesus  was  to  enter  the  city  that  day. 
Arrangements  were  completed,  and  in  due  time  the  pro¬ 
cession  started.  Jesus  rode  on  an  ass,  the  humblest  of 
animals,  and  the  disciples  carpeted  the  dusty  roadway 
with  greenery  and  their  own  many-colored  garments, 
while  their  hosannas  rang  out  over  the  hills.  The  proces¬ 
sion  would  not  have  compared  with  the  triumphal  entry 
of  a  returning  Roman  conqueror,  but  it  meant  more  for 
the  world. 

As  the  procession  reached  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  the  holy  city  broke  upon  the  view.  It  is  an  im¬ 
pressive  spectacle  even  at  this  day,  but  then  it  was  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  The  city  sat  like  a  jeweled 
crown  on  the  brow  of  Mount  Zion.  In  the  foreground 
rose  the  marble  walls  of  the  temple  of  stainless  whiteness, 
crowned  with  its  flashing  gilded  roof;  in  the  background 
stretched  the  streets  and  squares  of  the  city,  and  over 
it  all  lay  the  spell  of  a  thousand  years  of  patriotic  and 
sacred  associations. 

When  he  saw  the  city,  “ Jesus  wept.”  What  a  strange, 
incredible,  unaccountable  interruption  of  these  festivities 
of  the  hour!  How  the  disciples  must  have  been  amazed 
at  his  tears.  Only  twice  is  it  recorded  of  Jesus  that  he 
wept:  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus  and  on  this  occasion.  In 
the  former  instance,  as  the  word  means,  he  shed  silent 
tears;  but  on  this  occasion,  as  the  word  means,  he  wept 
aloud,  he  broke  down  and  sobbed  like  a  child.  A  child 
cries  at  a  touch,  a  woman’s  tears  lie  near  the  surface,  but 
a  man’s  tears  are  buried  deep  and  it  requires  some  over¬ 
mastering  emotion  to  unseal  and  break  up  their  fountain. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


213 


And  these  tears  of  Jesus  grow  all  the  stranger  when 
we  consider  the  circumstances  of  the  hour.  It  was  the 
springtime  and  a  mass  of  fresh  colors  lay  palpitating  on 
the  landscape,  the  air  was  balmy  with  the  fragrant  breath 
of  spring,  and  over  it  all  was  the  splendor  of  a  Syrian 
sky.  Did  not  Jesus  appreciate  nature,  and  how  could  he 
weep  in  the  midst  of  so  much  beauty?  Jerusalem  also 
was  the  chosen  city  of  God,  the  holiest  city  on  earth,  dear 
to  the  heart  of  Jesus  himself  by  every  patriotic  and  sacred 
tie.  Let  him  go  and  weep  great  hot  tears  over  apostate 
Samaria  or  pagan  Rome,  but  will  he  not  lift  his  hands 
in  blessing  and  his  face  beam  with  benediction  over  Jeru¬ 
salem?  It  was  also  the  hour  of  his  triumphal  entry  into 
Jerusalem  in  recognition  of  his  rights  as  king:  shall  he 
not  share  in  the  festivities  and  joy  of  the  celebration?  But 
when  he  saw  the  city  he  “wept  over  it.”  Again  we  won¬ 
der  at  these  strange  tears. 

Why  did  Jesus  weep  over  Jerusalem?  First,  because 
of  the  sinfulness  of  the  city.  Any  city  is  a  pool  of  in¬ 
iquity  and  wickedness  with  depths  of  degradation  that 
sink  into  hell,  and  if  we  could  only  see  deep  enough  we 
would  weep  over  it.  Jesus  saw  to  the  bottom  of  that  city 
of  a  million  people,  and  the  sight  drew  tears  from  his 
eyes. 

He  also  wept  over  Jerusalem  because  it  had  rejected 
him.  What  is  the  deepest  sin  of  any  city?  Not  its  social 
vice,  for  this  may  be  a  sin  of  frailty,  but  guiltier  are  its 
spiritual  sins  of  pride  and  selfishness  and  hardness  of 
heart.  Jerusalem  was  chosen  of  God  that  it  might  pre¬ 
pare  the  way  for  and  receive  the  Messiah,  and  now  it 
was  casting  him  off  and  getting  ready  to  crucify  him,  and 
this  was  the  iron  that  most  cruelly  entered  the  soul  of 
J  esus. 

He  also  wept  over  the  city  because  he  saw  its  coming 
doom.  There  it  sat  on  its  hill  all  unconscious  of  impend¬ 
ing  judgment,  and  yet  Jesus  saw  the  Roman  legions  gath¬ 
ering  around  it  and  shutting  it  in  and  sweeping  in  slaugh¬ 
ter  through  its  streets  and  leaving  it  a  smoking  heap  of 
ashes  and  broken  stones,  and  the  prospect  caused  him  to 
sob  like  a  child. 

Deepest  of  all  Jesus  wept  over  Jerusalem  because  he 


214 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING- 


loved  it.  It  was  dear  to  him  and  often  would  he  have 
gathered  its  children  in  his  arms,  but  they  would  not. 
This  is  the  deepest  root  of  God’s  sorrow  over  the  world: 
he  loves  it  and  so  loved  it  as  to  give  his  only  Son  for  it. 

Having  wept  over  the  city,  what  did  Jesus  now  do? 
Did  he  simply  spill  his  tears  on  the  ground  and  pass  on 
unconcerned?  No,  he  turned  his  weeping  into  working, 
his  tears  into  toil,  his  sympathy  into  service,  and  his  sor¬ 
row  into  a  great  salvation.  Some  people  like  to  indulge 
in  sad  emotions  as  a  kind  of  sentimental  luxury  and  even 
like  to  cry  provided  it  does  not  cost  them  anything.  But 
such  superficial  emotionalism  is  weakening  and  may 
wither  the  heart  into  dust.  Emotion  is  good  only  as  it 
imparts  motion  to  the  will  and  moves  it  to  practical  worthy 
action. 

Jesus,  having  wept  over  Jerusalem,  went  over  into  that 
city  and  up  into  its  temple  and  drove  out  the  thieves  and 
robbers  and  faced  and  condemned  with  splendid  bravery 
and  scorn  the  principal  offenders,  the  doctors  of  divinity 
and  chief  men  of  the  city:  he  cleaned  up  that  town,  and 
then  he  paid  the  price  as  he  laid  down  his  life  outside 
the  city  wall  for  the  redemption  of  that  city  and  of  all 
the  cities  of  the  world.  In  vain  do  we  weep  over  our 
city  unless  we  also  are  willing  to  pay  the  price  of  its 
redemption  in  service  and  sacrifice  that  may  cost  us  dearly 
and  even  life  itself. 

But  what  came  of  this  triumphal  entry  with  all  its 
pomp  and  pageantry  and  promise  of  a  royal  coronation? 
Was  Jesus  crowned  on  this  day?  No,  nothing  came  of  it. 
Having  condemned  the  priests,  Jesus  “left  them  and  went 
forth  out  of  the  city.”  The  great  day  was  over  and  noth¬ 
ing  had  resulted  from  it:  Jesus  was  not  yet  king. 

And  never  will  he  be  king  by  such  means.  Doubtless 
the  disciples  had  had  high  expectations  and  thought  that 
the  processions  and  banners  and  shouts  would  surely  carry 
Jesus  to  his  throne  and  themselves  into  the  chief  offices. 
Deep  and  tragical  must  have  been  their  disillusionment, 
as  ours  will  be  if  we  put  our  trust  in  such  means.  But 
Jesus  himself  entertained  no  such  dreams  and  experienced 
no  disappointment,  for  he  knew  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
cometh  not  with  observation. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  215 

4.  Certain  Greeks 
John  12 : 20-36 

On  Monday  and  Tuesday  following  the  triumphal  entry 
Jesus  went  into  the  city  from  Bethany,  teaching  and  heal¬ 
ing,  while  the  Pharisees  and  scribes  were  endeavoring  to 
entrap  him  and  plotting  how  they  might  compass  his 
death. 

“ Certain  Greeks”  came  up  to  worship  at  this  feast. 
These  were  not  Hellenistic  Jews,  or  Jews  from  Greek 
countries  speaking  the  Greek  language,  but  genuine  Greeks 
who  were  converts  in  some  degree  to  Jewish  faith  and 
worship.  They  heard  of  Jesus  and  wished  to  know  more 
about  him.  They  therefore  found  Philip,  whose  Greek 
name  betrayed  his  Grecian  affinity,  and  made  to  him  their 
request:  “Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus.” 

Philip  seems  to  have  realized  that  this  apparently  or¬ 
dinary  request  was  fraught  with  more  than  ordinary  sig¬ 
nificance,  and  so  he  first  reported  it  to  Andrew,  another 
disciple  with  a  Greek  name.  These  two  disciples  went  to 
Jesus  and  reported  to  him  this  request  for  a  personal 
interview. 

So  far  this  incident  suggests  nothing  extraordinary. 
People  were  frequently  seeking  interviews  with  Jesus,  and 
these  Greeks  were  only  two  or  three  people  more.  What 
significance  attaches  to  this  fact,  why  report  so  trivial 
an  incident?  But  trivial  incidents  may  be  the  germs  of 
tremendous  consequences,  as  the  first  acorn  contained  all 
the  oaks  in  the  world.  The  moment  this  request  was  re¬ 
ported  to  Jesus  it  produced  upon  him  an  extraordinary 
effect.  Hardly  any  other  incident  in  his  whole  ministry 
affected  him  so  profoundly  as  this.  Instantly  he  exclaimed, 
“The  hour  is  come  that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  glori¬ 
fied.” 

What  bearing  has  this  on  the  request  of  the  Greeks, 
what  is  the  psychology  of  this  strange  answer?  These 
Greeks  were  suggestive.  To  the  common  mind  they  would 
have  been  only  a  few  strange-looking  foreigners,  but  to 
the  prophetic  imagination  of  Jesus  they  were  radiant  with 
significance  and  opened  a  wonderful  vision  of  glory.  These 
Greeks  were  Gentiles,  heathen  from  the  great  world  out- 


216 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


side  the  chosen  people.  They  represented  the  pagan  world 
at  its  best,  its  most  brilliant  and  cultured  race. 

What  were  these  Greeks  but  the  forerunners  of  a  great 
multitude  that  would  come  to  Christ  out  of  that  world 
from  the  east  and  from  the  west  and  from  the  north  and 
from  the  south,  the  fir§t  fruits  of  a  vast  harvest  that  was 
to  be  gathered  out  of  every  land  and  clime?  A  single 
drop  of  rain  that  comes  splashing  down  on  the  hot  dusty 
earth  may  seem  altogether  trivial  in  itself,  but  it  derives 
immense  significance  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  first 
drop  of  a  copious  shower  that  will  saturate  the  thirsty 
ground  and  gladden  every  living  thing.  The  first  tiny 
green  blade  that  pushes  up  through  the  clods  of  the  wheat- 
fields  rejoices  the  heart  of  the  farmer  because  he  sees 
it  is  the  pioneer  of  a  million  other  blades  that  will  shoot 
up  through  the  pores  of  that  field  and  presently  cover 
it  with  golden  grain.  A  few  things  are  not  few  when 
they  are  the  forerunners  of  many  things. 

Jesus  rejoiced  in  these  inquiring  Greeks  because  he  saw 
that  they  were  the  budding  prophecy  that  pledged  him 
the  heathen  for  his  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  his  possession.  With  prophetic  vision  he 
saw  himself  in  possession  of  this  inheritance  and  out  of 
his  exultant  consciousness  he  exclaimed,  “The  hour  is 
come  that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  glorified/ ’  We  need 
such  faith  that  in  small  seeds  we  may  see  the  promise 
and  potency  of  great  harvests. 

Suddenly  this  joyous  consciousness  of  Jesus  changed  and 
swept  into  a  shadow.  The  painful  thought  came  to  him 
that  except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die, 
it  abideth  alone;  but  if  it  die,  it  beareth  much  fruit.  He 
saw  the  cost  of  the  great  victory  which  had  just  filled  him 
with  a  sense  of  triumph. 

How  was  he  to  gain  the  world?  He  knew  that  he  was 
already  rejected  by  the  Jews.  Might  he  not  now  go  with 
these  inquiring  Greeks  out  into  the  Gentile  world  and  try 
his  fortunes  there?  Might  not  the  intellectual  Greeks,  so 
reasonable  and  so  religious,  give  him  a  readier  reception? 
Might  not  his  journey  through  pagan  lands  be  a  march  of 
triumph  that  would  bring  the  nations  into  his  kingdom? 

Did  any  such  perilous  thought  beat  against  his  mind  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


217 


heart  at  this  hour?  Did  Satan  again  offer  him  all  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  if  he  would  forsake  the  way  of  the 
cross?  The  devil  in  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness  only 
left  him  “for  a  season/ ’  and  has  he  here  returned?  When 
he  goes  away  he  is  always  ready  to  come  back. 

Certain  it  is  that  Jesus  cast  any  such  alluring  vision 
down,  as  he  did  on  the  mountain.  He  clearly  foresaw  that 
not  by  thus  saving  his  life  could  he  save  the  world,  but 
only  by  losing  it  could  he  reach  his  kingdom.  The  grain 
of  wheat  with  all  its  wealth  of  nourishment  and  golden 
beauty  must  be  buried  in  a  grave  and  perish  that  it  may 
shoot  up  into  a  green  stalk  and  blossom  and  multiply  itself 
a  hundred  fold.  Nature  is  full  of  such  sacrifice.  Life 
always  costs  life.  The  weak  must  suffer  for  the  strong, 
and  the  good  for  the  bad. 

This  principle  reaches  intense  expression  in  our  human 
world.  This  is  the  meaning  of  motherhood.  The  parent 
must  sacrifice  for  the  child,  and  one  generation  for  the  next. 
Our  liberties  are  the  costly  victories  of  many  battlefields. 
All  our  inherited  blessings  are  the  transmuted  blood  of 
countless  ancestors  who  suffered  and  died  for  us.  If  no 
more  grains  fell  into  the  ground  and  perished  there  would 
be  no  more  sheaves  of  wheat;  and  if  there  were  no  more 
lives  laid  down  for  others  in  this  world  there  would  be  no 
more  harvests  of  human  welfare. 

This  principle  reaches  incomparably  its  highest  expres¬ 
sion  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  Had  Jesus  forsaken  the  cross 
and  gone  with  these  Greeks  in  the  hope  of  winning  the 
world  without  sacrifice,  we  would  never  have  heard  his 
name.  That  grain  of  wheat  would  have  been  saved,  but  it 
would  have  remained  alone  and  never  would  have  sent  a 
harvest  down  to  us.  But  because  Jesus  fell  from  his  cross 
into  his  grave,  his  Life  is  now  springing  up  in  our  life  and 
is  everywhere  enriching  the  world. 

5.  The  Lord’s  Supper 

Matthew  26 : 17-36 ;  Mark  14 :  22-26 ;  Luke  22 :  7-30 ; 

John  13 : 1-30 ;  I  Cor.  11 :  23-26 

Wednesday  of  passion  week  Jesus  remained  in  Bethany 
in  seclusion  and  rest.  It  was  the  lull  before  the  storm. 


218 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


He  knew  that  his  hour  was  now  come.  Calmly  he  rested 
and  gathered  strength  for  the  supreme  trial.  On  Thurs¬ 
day  afternoon  the  preparation  for  the  Passover  was  made, 
and  in  the  evening,  which  according  to  the  Jewish  reck¬ 
oning  was  the  beginning  of  Friday,  the  Passover  was  eaten 
and  the  Lord ’s  supper  was  instituted. 

As  they  were  eating  the  disciples  were  startled  by  the 
sudden  declaration  of  Jesus,  “Verily  I  say  unto  you,  One 
of  you  shall  betray  me.”  This  unexpected  announcement 
filled  the  disciples  with  alarm.  Such  baseness  excited  their 
horror.  Could  it  be  possible  there  was  such  treachery 
lurking  amongst  them?  And  they  began  to  say,  one  by 
one,  “Is  it  I?” 

This  was  a  better  question  than,  “Is  it  you?”  There 
are  hidden  possibilities  in  us  of  which  we  may  be  seldom 
or  never  conscious,  and  we  should  be  more  concerned  in 
finding  out  our  own  sin  than  that  of  others.  The  disciples 
wanted  to  knoAv  the  guilty  one,  but  Jesus  left  the  point 
uncertain  that  all  might;  be  warned. 

Then  J esus  uttered  a  deep  mystery  of  divine  providence. 
“The  Son  of  man  goeth,  even  as  it  is  written  of  him:  but 
woe  unto  that  man  through  whom  the  Son  of  man  is  be¬ 
trayed  ! ’  ’  Divine  sovereignty  and  human  responsibility  are 
here  strangely  interlinked.  Jesus  “was  delivered  up  to 
die  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ’  ’ 
and  yet  man  is  held  responsible  for  his  death.  God’s  plan 
is  wide  enough  to  include  our  most  wicked  acts,  and  yet 
it  leaves  our  free  agency  and  responsibility  untouched. 
He  permits  but  does  not  cause  our  evil  deeds. 

“And  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took  bread.”  The 
Lord’s  Supper  was  not  an  abrupt  creation,  but  a  further 
evolution.  The  new  ordinance  grew  out  of  the  old  and  was 
the  fulfillment  and  perfect  blossom  of  the  past.  Jesus 
came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill,  and  Christianity  is  not  a 
new  faith  but  the  final  outgrowth  and  fruitage  of  the  old 
faith. 

The  few  words  instituting  this  ordinance  are  among  the 
most  precious  in  the  Gospels  and  in  all  the  literature  of 
the  world:  “And  as  they  were  eating,  he  took  bread,  and 
when  he  had  blessed,  he  brake  it,  and  gave  to  them,  and 
said,  Take  ye :  this  is  my  body.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


219 


when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  gave  it  to  them :  and  they  all 
drank  of  it.  And  he  said  unto  them,  this  is  the  blood  of 
the  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many.” 

Man  cannot  live  by  the  bread  of  earth  alone :  the  soul 
has  its  deeper  hunger  and  must  have  proper  bread  or  die. 
Christ  is  the  bread  of  life  that  cometh  down  from  heaven, 
and  this  bread  and  this  cup  ever  symbolize  to  the  believer 
his  body  broken  and  his  blood  shed  as  his  sacrifice  for  our 
redemption. 

The  outward  emblems  are  simple  and  unadorned,  but 
the  inner  meaning  is  Jeep  and  rich.  The  significance  of 
any  sign  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  nature  of  the  sign 
itself.  The  flag  of  our  country  is  only  so  much  colored  silk 
or  cheap  muslin,  and  yet  what  a  mighty  meaning  does  it 
carry  wherever  it  floats,  representing  the  law  and  order, 
the  power  and  majesty,  the  history  and  glory  of  a  great 
nation.  A  little  lock  of  hair  carefully  preserved  may  seem 
to  the  undiscerning  eye  of  a  stranger  of  slight  significance, 
but  to  the  bereaved  mother  it  suggests  thoughts  and  mem¬ 
ories  that  are  too  deep  for  tears.  So  this  bread  and  cup 
may  seem  common  and  meaningless  to  the  world,  but  to 
believers  through  all  the  ages  they  have  been  and  are  pre¬ 
cious  beyond  any  other  symbol  in  the  world. 

“This  do,”  said  Jesus  to  his  disciples,  “in  remembrance 
of  me.”  Why  did  Jesus  want  to  be  remembered?  Partly 
for  his  own  sake.  He  had  a  human  craving  for  such  re¬ 
membrance  and  the  thought  that  he  would  be  forgotten 
and  his  very  name  be  lost  in  oblivion  would  have  been 
painful  to  him.  Immortality  is  wrapped  up  in  this  deep 
yearning  of  the  heart :  we  cannot  believe  that  we  are  only 
creatures  of  an  hour  and  will  quickly  pass  into  the  night 
of  forgotten  names.  Jesus  craves  this  remembrance  and 
as  long  as  this  bread  and  cup  pass  from  hand  to  hand 
among  his  followers,  he  will  have  this  reward  and  be  sat¬ 
isfied. 

Jesus  also  wanted  us  to  remember  him  for  our  own  sakes. 
Memory  is  one  of  the  ties  that  bind  us  to  him,  a  vital  ar¬ 
tery  through  which  his  teachings  and  influence  and  life 
pass  into  us  and  become  incorporated  in  our  life.  This 
commemoration  is  one  of  the  means  by  which  at  intervals 
we  are  brought  into  close  and  tender  fellowship  with  him 


220 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


and  renew  onr  pledge  of  loyalty  to  him,  and  it  could  not 
pass  out  of  our  lives  without  serious  spiritual  loss  to  our 
souls.  If  ever  Christ  is  forgotten  in  this  world,  Christian¬ 
ity  will  wither  and  be  blown  away  and  itself  be  forgotten. 

The  ordinance  also  has  in  it  a  gleam  of  prophecy.  It 
looks  back  upon  the  past  in  remembrance,  but  it  also  looks 
forward  into  the  future  “till  he  come”  in  that  day  when, 
as  he  promised,  “I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father’s 
kingdom.”  It  thus  links  Christ’s  first  with  his  final  com¬ 
ing.  How  slender  and  frail  seems  the  thread  of  contin¬ 
uity  and  yet  how  long  it  has  lasted.  How  perishable  are 
the  elements  and  yet  how  imperishable  the  memorial!  It 
is  one  of  the  oldest  things  in  the  world  and  will  yet  outlast 
all  the  fabrics  of  human  hands.  Men  make  every  effort  to 
perpetuate  their  name  in  the  world:  they  write  books  or 
paint  pictures,  or  they  rear  marble  shafts  or  pile  up  vast 
pyramids  of  stone.  But  the  books  are  soon  forgotten,  the 
marble  soon  crumbles  into  dust,  and  the  huge  pyramid  dis¬ 
appears  or  its  very  meaning  is  lost  in  oblivion. 

This  bread  and  cup  is  the  only  material  monument  J esus 
Christ  left  to  his  memory.  It  seems  frailer  than  a  thread, 
and  yet  it  has  survived  without  a  break  through  all  the 
revolutions  of  nineteen  centuries,  outlasting  cities  and  em¬ 
pires.  It  must  have  in  it  some  substance  and  vitality  that 
the  world  will  not  let  die.  It  has  deep  rich  roots,  but  it 
has  not  yet  come  to  its  perfect  blossom  and  ripe  fruit. 

‘  ‘  And  when  they  had  sung  a  hymn,  they  went  out  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives.”  Having  instituted  and  partaken  of 
such  an  ordinance  it  was  fitting  that  they  should  sing. 
Right  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross,  Jesus  planted  a  song, 
blossom.  He  opened  the  service  of  his  Supper  by  giving 
thanks  and  closed  it  with  a  song.  Always  he  could  find 
something  to  be  thankful  for  and  to  sing  about;  in  his 
darkest  hour  he  was  full  of  thanksgiving  and  praise.  He 
lived  with  God  “who  giveth  songs  in  the  night”  (Job 
35:10). 

He  joined  in  this  hymn  and  then  went  straight  to  his 
agony  and  trial  and  passion.  If  we  are  united  in  fellow¬ 
ship  with  him,  we  can  sing  hymns  of  faith  and  praise  and 
then  go  out  to  do  our  work  or  out  into  the  night  to  bear 
our  cross. 


221 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

6.  Gethsemane 

Matthew  26 : 3646 ;  Mark  14 :  3242 ;  Luke  22 : 3946 ; 

J  ohn  18 : 1 

After  the  closing  hymn  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  Jesus  and 
his  eleven  disciples,  Judas  having  left  the  Twelve  to  carry 
out  his  traitorous  plot,  went  out  of  the  city  near  the  hour 
of  midnight  across  the  Kedron  to  the  garden  of  Gethse¬ 
mane  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  This 
Garden  of  Sorrow  is  the  real  battlefield  of  the  cross.  Geth¬ 
semane  won  the  victory  of  Calvary.  Out  of  this  hour  of 
agony  and  prayer  Jesus  emerged  calm  and  strong  for  the 
final  hour.  We  must  win  our  battles  before  we  come  to 
them  in  secret  prayer  and  gathered  strength. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  garden  Jesus  left  eight  of  his 
disciples  and  with  the  other  three  went  on  deeper  into  the 
shadows  to  engage  in  prayer.  Prayer  was  the  prepara¬ 
tion  for  his  passion.  He  wanted  to  see  full  and  clear  the 
light  of  his  Father’s  face  before  he  stepped  into  the  final 
darkness.  He  sought  to  harmonize  his  will  into  perfect 
unison  with  the  Father’s  will :  he  knew  he  could  then  bear 
the  cross. 

“And  he  taketh  with  him  Peter  and  James  and  John.” 
The  three  witnesses  of  the  transfiguration  were  also  wit¬ 
nesses  of  the  agony  in  the  garden.  They  saw  Jesus  on  the 
mountaintop  steeped  in  splendor  and  they  saw  him  in 
the  dusk  of  the  garden  bowed  under  bloody  sweat  and 
sorrow ;  by  such  scenes  were  they  fitted  to  be  witnesses  for 
him. 

Why  did  Jesus,  leaving  the  other  disciples  behind,  take 
these  three  with  him?  Partly  as  an  inner  guard  against 
interruption,  but  mainly  for  the  sympathy  and  support 
of  their  presence.  They  were  the  close  circle  of  disciples 
that  understood  him  best  and  trusted  him  most.  It  was  a 
beautiful  but  pathetic  exhibition  of  the  humanity  of  Jesus 
that  in  his  hour  of  trial  he  wanted  his  dearest  friends  near 
by.  Their  simple  presence  helped  to  support  and  comfort 
him;  their  shoulders  were  under  his  burden;  he  was  so 
much  stronger  by  reason  of  their  added  strength.  Soli¬ 
tary  suffering  is  doubly  hard  to  bear,  and  sympathy  is  a 
wonderful  power  to  lighten  a  burden. 


222 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


When  Jesus  with  his  three  disciples  was  buried  deep  in 
the  seclusion  and  shadows  of  the  garden  a  mysterious  dread 
as  the  horror  of  a  great  darkness  came  upon  him.  He 
was  “in  an  agony”  and  “began  to  be  sore  amazed  and  to 
be  very  heavy  and  saith  unto  them,  My  soul  is  exceeding 
sorrowful  unto  death.”  We  cannot  enter  in  the  secret  of 
this  anguish,  for  it  involves  roots  and  relations  that 
stretch  infinitely  beyond  our  understanding  and  expe¬ 
rience;  it  is  a  burden  and  a  weight  of  mystery  of  which 
we  can  only  touch  the  edge.  Its  deepest  meaning  was  that 
“the  Lord  had  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.”  This 
was  the  agony  that  forced  from  the  sensitive  quivering 
nerves  of  Jesus  great  drops  of  blood  and  a  pitiful  cry  of 
sorrow  out  of  his  heart.  This  was  the  unspeakable  cost  of 
our  redemption. 

Out  of  this  garden  floated  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
prayers  in  the  Word  of  God;  out  of  this  darkness  and 
agony  came  strong  trust  and  sweet  submission.  “Abba, 
Father”:  “Abba,”  the  Aramaic  word  for  Father,  is  one 
of  the  very  few  literal  words  of  J esus  that  have  come  down 
to  us,  so  that  in  this  word  we  hear  the  very  sound  of  his 
voice.  “All  things  are  possible  unto  thee”:  this  is  the 
strong  ground  of  confidence  prayer  first  stands  upon. 
“Take  away  this  cup  from  me”:  what  a  pathetic  cry  is 
this,  how  human  it  is.  The  cup  of  the  cross  was  now  be¬ 
coming  so  bitter  that  Jesus  instinctively  prayed  that  it 
might  pass  from  his  lips.  The  humanity  of  the  Son  of  God 
is  here  laid  bare  down  to  its  shrinking  quivering  nerves. 
“Nevertheless,  not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done”:  this  was 
the  strong  sure  check  that  Jesus  put  upon  his  own  will, 
the  invulnerable  safeguard  he  threw  around  himself  against 
unholy  desires  and  ignorant  petitions,  the  mighty  rock  on 
which  he  kneeled.  “Thy  will  be  done,”  is  a  petition  that 
should  condition  all  our  prayers. 

Three  times  Jesus  returned  to  his  disciples,  whom  he  had 
asked  to  keep  vigil  with  him,  and  found  them  sleeping. 
They  were  in  some  degree  blameworthy  and  Jesus  singled 
out  Peter  for  a  gentle  rebuke.  At  his  third  return  he  said 
in  calm  tones,  ‘  ‘  The  hour  is  come.  ’ ’  The  victory  was  won. 
Through  prayer  his  will  had  been  wrought  into  absolute 
unquestioning  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Father,  th.9 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  223 

peace  of  God  was  upon  him,  the  strength  of  God  was  in 
him,  and  he  was  now  ready  to  be  offered. 

“Rise  up,”  he  said:  “let  us  go;  lo,  he  that  betrayeth  me 
is  at  hand.”  Even  while  he  spoke  the  multitude  led  by 
Judas  appeared  at  the  gate,  and  Jesus  calmly  went  out  to 
meet  them.  “Whom  seek  ye?”  he  asked  of  them.  “Jesus 
of  Nazareth,”  they  answered,  to  which  he  replied,  “I  am 
he.” 

At  this  word  the  soldiers  and  priests  and  Pharisees  and 
also  Judas  and  the  rabble  “went  backward,  and  fell  to  the 
ground.”  Was  there  ever  a  more  striking  instance  of  un¬ 
conscious  obeisance,  a  truer  witness  to  the  grandeur  and 
majesty  of  the  personality  of  Jesus?  Let  the  letters  stand 
out  in  living  light  in  this  record  that  his  enemies,  Judas 
the  traitor,  bitter  priests,  proud  Pharisees  and  even  stolid 
Roman  soldiers,  at  his  presence  went  backward  and  fell  to 
the  ground. 

No  doubt  conscience  made  cowards  of  them  all,  and  the 
unexpected  and  startling  appearance  of  Jesus  at  the  gate 
of  the  garden  in  his  calmness  and  bravery  precipitated  this 
sense  of  guilt  and  helped  to  cast  them  prostrate  before 
him.  But  his  personality  must  have  shone  out  of  his  ap¬ 
pearance  in  impressive  power.  The  starry  radiance  of  his 
eyes,  the  lofty  majesty  stamped  upon  his  countenance,  the 
transparent  truth  and  purity  and  peace  of  his  soul,  the 
calmness  and  poise  of  his  bearing,  all  combined  into  a  total 
personality  that  put  a  subtle  and  irresistible  spell  upon 
all  those  that  came  into  his  presence. 

Judas  betrayed  his  Master  to  his  enemies  with  a  trait¬ 
orous  kiss,  and  “so  the  band  and  the  chief  captain,  and  the 
officers  of  the  Jews,  seized  Jesus  and  bound  him.” 

7.  The  Trial 

Matthew  26  :  57 — 27  :  31 ;  Mark  14  :  53 — 15  :  20 ;  Luke 
22  :  54—23  : 25 ;  John  18  : 12—19  : 16 

The  trial  of  Jesus  is  a  complicated  story  that  falls  into 
six  parts:  three  ecclesiastical  and  three  civil.  He  was 
first  taken  before  Annas,  the  father-in-law  of  Caiaphas 
the  high  priest,  then  before  the  high  priest  and  the  Sanhe- 


224 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


drin  in  an  irreguar  hearing  at  night,  and  again  before 
Caiaphas  and  the  Sanhedrin  in  a  regular  trial  in  the  morn¬ 
ing. 

He  was  then  taken  before  Pilate,  as  the  Sanhedrin 
could  not  finally  pass  sentence  of  death.  Pilate,  after 
hearing  the  case,  sent  it  to  Herod,  tetrarch  of  Galilee, 
then  present  in  the  city,  on  the  ground  that  Jesus  was 
a  Galilean.  Herod  returned  the  case  to  Pilate,  who  then 
passed  the  final  sentence  of  death. 

Pilate  was  the  Roman  governor  of  Judea  with  his 
capital  at  Caesarea  down  on  the  Mediterranean,  but  with 
his  residence  during  the  feasts  up  at  Jerusalem,  prob¬ 
ably  in  Herod’s  palace.  He  was  unscrupulous  and  cor¬ 
rupt,  tyrannical  and  cruel,  and  exasperated  the  Jews  into 
fanatical  rebellion  by  repeated  acts  of  sacrilege  and  vio¬ 
lence. 

The  most  momentous  event  of  his  governorship,  though 
perhaps  to  him  one  of  the  most  trivial,  was  this  trial. 
He  doubtless  looked  on  Jesus  as  a  contemptible  Jew,  pos¬ 
sessed  of  a  harmless  delusion,  yet  had  it  not  been  for 
his  accidental  association  with  that  Jew  we  never  would 
have  heard  of  Pilate.  He  stepped  into  the  presence  of 
Jesus,  as  a  mote  floats  into  a  sunbeam,  and  in  that  light 
stands  revealed  forever.  He  showed  some  disposition  to 
deal  fairly  with  his  prisoner  and  made  some  feeble  at¬ 
tempts  to  release  him,  but  in  the  end  he  played  the  part 
of  an  unjust  judge  and  a  coward,  and  “Suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate”  is  the  indelible  stigma  that  has  been 
affixed  to  his  name. 

When  the  Jews  brought  Jesus  in  the  gray  light  of  the 
morning  to  Pilate’s  judgment  hall,  they  would  not  enter 
lest  they  should  be  defiled:  for  men  may  be  intensely 
religious  at  one  point  while  engaged  in  the  deepest  wick¬ 
edness  at  another;  especially  may  they  be  punctilious  in 
the  observance  of  petty  matters  of  ceremony  while  dis¬ 
regarding  and  trampling  upon  moral  principles. 

Pilate  inquired  what  accusation  they  brought  against 
the  man,  and  their  indefinite  and  evasive  answer  was, 
“If  this  man  were  not  an  evil  doer,  we  should  not  have 
delivered  him  up  unto  thee.”  The  charge  on  which  they 
had  condemned  him  before  their  own  court  was  blasphemy, 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


225 


but  they  knew  this  would  have  no  meaning  and  force 
with  Pilate  and  therefore  did  not  mention  it,  but  hoped 
that  he  would  blindly  condemn  the  prisoner  at  their 
instigation. 

But  this  was  not  in  accordance  with  Pilate’s  Roman 
ideas  of  legal  procedure;  and,  as  they  made  no  definite 
charges,  he  attempted  to  throw  the  case  back  into  their 
hands  by  telling  them  to  take  the  prisoner  and  judge 
him  according  to  their  own  law.  This  was  Pilate’s  first 
device  to  shift  his  own  responsibility  and  get  rid  of  Christ ; 
and  from  this  point  on  it  is  pitiful  to  see  him  tossed 
about  in  his  indecision  and  cowardice,  impaled  now  on 
one  and  now  on  another  horn  of  the  case,  vainly  trying 
to  escape  and  yet  mercilessly  driven  on  by  the  murderous 
mob  to  a  fatal  decision. 

Pilate  now  saw  that  he  must  look  into  the  case  and 
took  Jesus  back  into  the  palace  for  a  private  interview. 
The  Jews  by  this  time  had  presented  charges  to  the  effect 
that  Jesus  was  perverting  the  nation,  forbidding  to  pay 
taxes  to  Cffisar  and  declaring  himself  a  king — charges 
that  were  false,  but  that  they  knew  would  be  effective 
with  Pilate. 

Pilate  began  the  interview  by  inquiring  into  this  point. 
“Art  thou  the  king  of  the  Jews?”  “Sayest  thou  this 
thing  of  thyself,  or  did  others  tell  it  thee  concerning 
me?”  was  the  searching  question  with  which  Jesus  re¬ 
plied.  “Am  I  a  Jew?”  contemptuously  answered  Pilate. 
“Art  thou  a  king  then?”  persisted  the  Roman  governor, 
who  asked  the  question  with  a  supercilious  air. 

The  prisoner  did  not  look  like  a  king  as  he  stood  there, 
a  despised  Galilean,  humbly  clad,  so  pale-faced  and  wan, 
with  his  visage  cut  deep  and  marred  with  lines  of  sor¬ 
row.  He  did  not  look  like  a  king  and  nobody  thought 
Jesus  was  a  King  that  day — except  himself. 

Pilate  appeared  before  the  people  and  declared,  “I  find 
no  fault  in  this  man.”  This,  then,  was  the  outcome 
of  his  investigation.  This  was  the  verdict  this  governor 
and  judge,  trained  in  Roman  law,  pronounced  upon  Jesus. 
High  above  the  blasphemous  charges  and  clamor  of  the 
fanatical  priests  and  people  rang,  and  still  rings  across  all 
these  centuries,  the  judicial  voice  of  Pilate,  “Behold,  I, 


226  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

having  examined  him  before  you,  found  no  fault  in  this 
man.  ’  ’ 

We  might  now  expect  some  just  and  noble  action  from 
this  Roman  judge.  Having  become  convinced  of  the  in¬ 
nocence  of  the  strange  prisoner,  will  he  not  vindicate 
him?  What  says  the  record?  “I  will  therefore  chastise 
him,  and  release  him.”  What  an  illogical  and  impotent 
conclusion  was  this  for  a  Roman  judge !  Pilate  did  not 
have  the  courage  of  his  convictions  and  stood  timid  and 
cringing  before  the  fanatical  crowd. 

The  shifty  Pilate  now  tried  another  device.  He  pro¬ 
posed  to  observe  the  custom  of  releasing  a  prisoner  at 
the  feast.  In  the  prison  near  by  lay  Barabbas,  a  notorious 
robber.  For  a  moment  the  fierce  light  of  this  trial  falls 
on  him.  Pilate  now  thought  he  saw  his  chance.  So  he 
put  the  question,  ‘ ‘ Whom  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you? 
Barabbas,  or  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ?”  Instantly 
the  mob  yelled  back  at  him,  “Away  with  this  man,  and 
release  unto  us  Barabbas.” 

This  is  what  comes  of  putting  Jesus  to  vote :  the  majority 
is  against  him.  As  between  Barabbas  and  Jesus  it  is  a 
question  whether  Barabbas  will  not  still  get  the  most 
votes.  We  need  only  scratch  our  own  Christian  skin  to 
find  barbarous  blood,  and  the  beast  in  us  still  yells  for 
Barabbas  and  not  for  Jesus. 

Pilate  is  now  about  to  seal  his  own  doom.  Before 
doing  this  he  tried  to  exonerate  himself  by  a  vain  and 
foolish  devise.  He  took  water  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  multitude  washed  his  hands,  saying,  “I  am  innocent 
of  the  blood  of  this  righteous  man:  see  ye  to  it.”  Yet 
by  the  very  terms  of  his  declaration  his  hands  were  drip¬ 
ping  with  the  blood  of  the  righteous  Man  whom  he  was 
sending  to  death,  and  not  all  the  multitudinous  seas  could 
wash  them  clean.  The  people  shouted  back,  “His  blood 
be  on  us,  and  on  our  children” — an  ominous  prophecy 
that  is  being  fulfilled  to  this  day. 

“And  Pilate  gave  sentence  that  it  should  be  as  they 
required.”  So  ended  the  trial  of  Jesus.  Yet  the  case 
was  not  closed  when  Pilate  delivered  him  to  be  crucified. 
This  trial  is  still  open,  and  every  one  must  record  his 
verdict. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  227 

8.  The  Crucifixion 

Matthew  27 :  32-56 ;  Mark  15 :  21-41 ;  Luke  23 :  26-49 ; 

John  19:16-37 

From  Pilate’s  judgment  hall  Jesus  was  led  away  to 
the  place  of  crucifixion.  He  was  forced  to  carry  his 
own  cross,  hut  on  the  way  an  African  Jew  was  compelled 
to  share  the  burden.  A  company  of  women  folknved  him, 
bewailing  his  fate,  but  Jesus  bade  them  weep,  not  for 
him,  but  for  themselves.  In  all  that  throng  he  was  the 
one  man  that  did  not  need  to  weep. 

At  last  the  procession  reached  the  place  outside  the 
city  wall  on  the  north  where  the  great  tragedy  was  en¬ 
acted.  The  name  of  the  place  was  Golgotha  in  Hebrew, 
.Calvary  in  Latin.  The  name,  meaning  a  skull,  was  prob¬ 
ably  given  to  a  small  knoll  in  the  shape  of  a  skull  and 
it  was  a  significant  place  for  man’s  redemption. 

How  eloquent  of  death  is  a  skull!  The  delicate  organs 
of  sight  and  sound  that  were  so  expressive  are  utterly 
gone,  leaving  only  dark  caverns  staring  blankly  around; 
and  the  great  golden  bowl  of  the  brain,  once  the  seat  of 
intelligence  and  affection  and  will,  is  empty  forever. 

So  is  man  in  his  sin.  It  was  fitting,  then,  that  the 
cross  should  be  lifted  at  Golgotha,  the  place  of  a  skull, 
for  it  was  to  bear  the  guilt  of  sin  and  undo  all  its  work. 
On  that  cross  were  to  be  nailed  all  the  wounds  and  woes 
that  have  reduced  man  to  a  skull,  and  from  it  were  to 
issue  such  virtue  and  power  as  would  restore  his  shat¬ 
tered  faculties  and  make  him  once  more  a  living  soul. 

The  soldiers  that  led  Jesus  to  the  place  of  execution 
promptly  dispatched  the  business.  The  victim  was  first 
stripped  quite  naked  and  scourged  with  whips,  into  which 
had  been  woven  bits  of  iron,  until  his  flesh  was  all  lacer¬ 
ated  and  bleeding.  He  was  then  laid  upon  the  cross,  two 
beams  of  wood  nailed  together  crosswise,  his  arms  stretched 
out  upon  the  cross  beam,  and  large  iron  spikes  were  ruth¬ 
lessly  driven  through  hands  and  feet  into  the  solid  wood 
behind. 

The  cross,  bearing  its  victim,  was  then  raised  upright 
and  dropped  into  the  hole  dug  for  it  with  a  violent  jolt. 
Hanging  on  four  great  wounds,  naked  under  a  blazing 


228 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


sun,  tom  and  bleeding,  with  wounds  inflaming,  fiery  thirst 
raging,  every  nerve  quivering  and  writhing  with  pain, 
the  sufferer  endured  the  mortal  agony  for  one,  two,  or 
even  three  days,  before  death  mercifully  put  an  end  to 
the  scene.  And  through  it  all  .the  soldiers  and  rabble 
mocked  and  jeered  and  tormented  the  wretched  creature, 
even  spitting  upon  him  and  brutally  striking  him  as  they 
passed  by. 

This  is  what  they  did  when  1 1  they  crucified  him.  ’  ’  There 
by  the  holy  city  at  the  place  of  a  skull,  surrounded  by 
enemies,  cruelly  tormented,  with  only  a  few  women  and 
a  single  disciple  looking  on  from  a  distance  in  silent  sym¬ 
pathy,  Jesus  hung  upon  the  cross.  All  the  horror  of  this 
death  burst  upon  him  in  flames  of  agony  so  fierce  and 
terrible  that  in  a  few  hours  his  life  was  consumed.  Yet 
no  spot  of  guilt  was  upon  him,  no  secret  fault  was  in  him, 
but  he  was  laying  down  his  life  for  the  life  of  the  world. 

The  soldiers  in  charge  of  the  crucifixion  received  the 
garments  of  Jesus  as  their  perquisites.  Wholly  uncon¬ 
scious  that  they  were  fulfilling  ancient  Jewish  prophecy 
(Ps.  22  : 18) ,  they  divided  the  outer  garments  into  four 
parts,  one  for  each  soldier;  and  then,  rattling  dice  in 
their  brass  helmets,  they  gambled  for  the  inner  garment 
which  was  woven  without  seam.  Thus  unwittingly  do 
men  even  in  their  deepest  wickedness  fulfill  far-off  divine 
purposes. 

How  little  these  soldiers  realized  the  overshadowing  sig¬ 
nificance  of  that  death  while  they  were  noisily  busy  get¬ 
ting  a  few  shreds  of  this  world’s  goods?  Is  it  not  even 
so  today?  How  much  of  our  bartering  and  living  is  but 
blatant  worldliness  and  selfishness  in  the  presence  of 
Christ?  Let  the  shadow  of  that  cross  on  Calvary  ever 
fall  upon  our  lives  to  quiet  and  restrain  them  into  holy 
praise  and  high  endeavor. 

A  furious  mob  raged  like  an  angry  sea  around  the 
cross.  There  were  the  preachers  and  elders  of  the  church, 
Pharisees  in  their  ostentatious  piety,  Sadducees  in  their 
silken  robes,  Roman  soldiers  in  their  scarlet  cloaks,  coarse 
people  drawn  by  low  curiosity,  and  the  basest  dregs  of 
the  city.  These  kept  up  a  constant  uproar  of  jeers  and 
taunts  and  insults  and  violence  against  Jesus.  And  in 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


229 


the  midst  of  it  all  what  was  he  doing?  Praying,  “Father, 
forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do”:  the 
snblimest  prayer  in  the  Bible  and  in  all  the  literature  of 
the  world. 

A  few  of  the  taunts  of  that  ungodly  crowd  were  caught 
up  into  the  Gospels  and  have  come  down  to  us.  Like 
everything  that  was  said  in  derision  against  Jesus,  they 
add  to  his  honor  and  are  so  many  crowns  unwittingly 
placed  upon  his  head.  “He  saved  others,”  they  jeeringly 
cried;  “himself  he  cannot  save.”  No  grander  eulogy  could 
be  pronounced  even  upon  the  Son  of  God.  Unconsciously 
they  placed  upon  his  brow  his  brightest  crown.  He  had 
“saved  others,”  as  many  could  have  then  testified,  and 
as  millions  have  testified  since.  But  “himself  he  could 
not  save,”  for  he  could  have  done  this  only  at  the  cost 
of  his  devotion  to  the  Father  and  of  his  love  to  the  world. 
No  imagination  could  picture  the  consequences  if  on  that 
eventful  day  Jesus  had  saved  himself. 

On  the  top  of  the  cross  over  the  head  of  Jesus  was  a 
board  whitened  with  gypsum,  bearing  in  black  letters  the 
inscription,  THIS  IS  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS. 
Pilate  wrote  the  inscription,  doubtless  as  a  deadly  insult 
to  the  Jews,  but  he  wrote  better  than  he  knew.  It  was 
written  in  three  languages:  in  the  official  Latin,  the  cur¬ 
rent  Greek,  and  the  vernacular  Aramaic — a  fact  that  may 
explain  the  variations  in  its  forms  in  the  Gospels.  Every¬ 
one  present  could  understand  one  or  another  of  these 
languages.  The  gospel  is  for  all  men  of  every  race  and 
tongue  and  nation,  and  it  must  be  put  into  all  languages 
that  all  may  hear  it  and  none  may  miss  its  good  news. 

The  Latin  was  representative  of  power  in  the  ancient 
world,  the  Greek  of  culture,  and  the  Aramaic  of  the  com¬ 
mon  people ;  and  Christ  is  still  king  over  all :  he  is  mighty 
to  rule  the  strong,  he  has  truth  for  the  intellectual,  and 
everywhere  the  common  people  hear  him  gladly. 

Passing  by  the  deeply  significant  incident  of  the  two 
thieves,  we  come  to  the  final  scene.  It  was  now  three 
o  ’clock  in  the  afternoon  and  life  was  about  spent.  Human 
nerves  could  endure  the  strain  of  suffering  no  more.  The 
last  thread  was  about  to  snap.  With  a  great  cry  of  mortal 
agony  Jesus  commended  his  spirit  to  his  Father,  his  head 


230 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


fell  forward,  and  he  was  still.  Life  had  fled  and  he  was 
dead.  With  wicked  hands  they  had  crucified  him. 

Only  in  the  presence  of  this  cross  can  we  know  man: 
how  deep  is  his  sin  and  how  immeasurable  is  his  wrnrth. 
Only  in  the  presence  of  this  cross  can  we  know  God :  how 
inexorable  is  his  justice  and  how  infinite  is  his  love. 
The  love  of  God  in  Christ,  the  worth  of  man,  the  sinful¬ 
ness  of  earth  and  the  holiness  of  heaven,  all  these  were 
gloriously  manifested  when,  on  that  green  hill  far  away, 
the  dear  Lord  was  crucified. 

9.  The  Resurrection 

Matthew  28  : 1-10 ;  Mark  16  : 1-11 ;  Luke  23  :  56 — 24  : 12 ; 

John  20  : 1-8 ;  1  Cor.  15  ;  Gal.  1 : 18-20 

After  the  crucifixion  the  body  of  Jesus  wTas  prepared 
for  burial  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  Nicodemus  and 
laid  in  a  new  sepulchre  hewn  in  the  rock,  and  the  grave 
was  closed  with  a  great  stone  and  sealed.  There  it  lay 
indistinguishable  from  the  dead  of  earth  through  Friday 
night,  Saturday  and  Sunday  morning.  But  there  was 
a  difference  in  that  grave,  and  in  the  morning  of  the 
third  day  an  event  occurred  that  has  transformed  all  suc¬ 
ceeding  centuries. 

The  morning  opened  with  the  faithful  women,  who  were 
last  at  the  cross,  first  at  the  tomb.  What  were  they 
doing?  They  had  bought  spices  and  had  brought  them 
to  anoint  the  body  of  Jesus.  This  loving  act  has  immense 
value  as  showing  the  state  of  mind  of  these  women  and 
all  the  disciples  after  the  crucifixion.  They  believed  that 
Jesus  was  dead  and  had  no  hope  or  thought  of  his  resur¬ 
rection.  They  were  utterly  bewildered,  scattered  and 
crushed  and  supposed  that  all  was  over.  They  were  in 
no  condition  of  mind,  then,  to  invent  or  imagine  a  resur¬ 
rection,  and  any  theory  of  fraud  or  of  hallucination  or 
vision  on  the  part  of  the  disciples  is  a  psychological  im¬ 
possibility.  This  is  incidental  and  undesigned  but  strong 
confirmation  of  its  reality  that  meets  us  on  the  threshold 
of  this  event. 

On  their  way  to  the  tomb  the  women  had  wondered 
how  the  stone  that  closed  it  could  be  removed,  but  when 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


231 


they  reached  it  they  found  it  rolled  away,  yet  they  1 1  found 
not  the  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus.”  An  angel  announced 
to  them  the  great  news,  “He  is  not  here;  for  he  is  risen, 
even  as  he  said.”  The  women  were  affrighted,  as  men  of 
stouter  nerves  would  have  been,  but  the  angel  cried  out, 
“Fear  not.”  A  little  later  Jesus  himself  greeted  these 
women  in  the  garden  with  the  same  assuring  words. 

Thus  opened  a  day  of  the  most  sensational  happenings 
and  tremendous  excitement.  The  women  hastened  to  tell 
the  disciples,  but  the  startling  news  encountered  persist¬ 
ent  unbelief  and  even  scoffs  on  the  part  of  these  men. 
“And  these  words  appeared  in  their  sight  as  idle  talk; 
and  they  disbelieved  them.”  Who  were  these  first  dis¬ 
believers  in  the  resurrection?  Jewish  priests  and  Roman 
officers?  No,  but  “the  apostles.”  Peter  and  James  and 
John  and  all  of  the  eleven  believed  the  story  of  these 
women  was  some  hallucination  of  their  excited  minds, 
“idle  talk,”  “the  wild  talk  of  the  sick  in  delirium,”  as 
the  Greek  word  means. 

Peter  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  disciples  to  discover 
the  truth.  He  at  first  disbelieved  the  report  as  idle  talk 
and,  likely  enough,  was  one  of  the  loudest  scoffers.  Yet 
he  did  not  rest  in  his  unbelief,  but  he  “arose  and  ran 
unto  the  tomb.”  John  went  with  him  and  these  two  dis¬ 
ciples  “saw  and  believed.” 

That  afternoon  two  disciples  were  on  their  way  to  the 
village  of  Emmaus,  and  a  Stranger  fell  in  with  them  and 
stayed  to  take  the  evening  meal  with  them  and  when  “he 
took  bread”  he  was  revealed  to  them  and  then  “he  van¬ 
ished  out  of  their  sight.”  That  evening  the  eleven  dis¬ 
ciples  were  gathered  in  an  upper  room  in  Jerusalem,  when 
“the  doors  were  shut”  and  Jesus  appeared  in  the  midst 
of  them  and  gave  them  visible  proofs  of  his  person  and 
presence. 

Already  it  was  apparent  that  there  was  something  mys¬ 
terious  in  the  resurrection  body  of  J esus  by  which  he  could 
appear  through  closed  doors  and  vanish  at  will.  A  week 
later  the  disciples  were  again  assembled  in  the  upper  room, 
Thomas,  the  persistent  sceptic  being  present,  and  he  was 
convinced  and  exclaimed,  “My  Lord  and  my  God.” 

The  scene  now  shifts  to  Galilee  where  two  appearances 


232 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


are  recorded.  The  first  was  on  the  shore  of  the  familiar 
lake  of  Galilee  when  the  disciples  were  out  fishing  in 
their  boat  and  Jesus  greeted  them  as  he  stood  on  the  shore. 
Impulsive  Peter,  true  to  himself,  leaped  into  the  sea  and 
swam  ashore,  and  when  they  all  followed,  Jesus  held  a 
touching  and  searching  interview  with  Peter. 

Later  he  appeared  to  “  above  five  hundred  brethren/ ’ 
whom  Paul  mentions  (I  Cor.  15:6),  on  a  mountain. 
“And  when  they  saw  him,  they  worshiped  him;  but  some 
doubted/ *  Only  an  honest  historian  who  was  simply  in¬ 
tent  on  telling  the  truth  would  have  admitted  this  unfa¬ 
vorable  fact  that  “some  doubted/ ’  A  partisan  writer  or 
pleader  would  have  made  it  out  that  everybody  worshiped 
and  nobody  doubted;  the  worship  was  absolutely  unani¬ 
mous  !  ‘  ‘  But  some  doubted,  ’  ’  calmly  and  boldly  says  Mat¬ 
thew.  We  can  trust  a  writer  and  a  book  that  is  so  impar¬ 
tial  and  fearless  in  telling  the  truth. 

There  are  ten  of  these  recorded  appearances  in  which 
every  opportunity  and  test  of  knowing.  Jesus  as  the  risen 
Christ  is  used  to  validate  this  event.  The  witnesses  are 
numerous,  competent  and  trustworthy  who  could  not  have 
been  deceived  and  who  sealed  their  testimony  with  their 
blood. 

A  witness  of  special  weight  is  Paul  who  after  his  con¬ 
version  went  to  Jerusalem  and  spent  fifteen  days  with 
Peter  and  James  the  Lord’s  brother  investigating  this 
event  on  the  ground.  He  says  he  went  to  “visit”  Peter 
(Gal.  1  : 18) ,  a  word  which  means  “to  know  by  inquiry 
and  personal  examination,”  or  “it  denotes  visits  paid 
to  places  of  interest  with  a  view  to  getting  information 
about  them  on  the  spot”  ( Expositor’s  Greek  Testament). 
Paul  was  a  lawyer  and  he  cross-examined  these  witnesses 
and  he  made  sure  of  the  certain  reality  of  this  fact. 

These  disciples  that  at  first  were  bewildered  and  crushed 
by  the  death  of  Jesus  were  by  his  resurrection  suddenly 
transformed  into  masterful  men  who  arose  in  their  might 
and  planted  Christianity  on  this  rock  where  it  stands  to 
this  day;  and  they  went  everywhere  preaching  this  fact 
and  with  it  turning  the  world  upside  down. 

This  thing  was  not  done  in  a  corner  but  in  the  open 
day  and  in  the  New  Testament  is  pushed  into  the  light  of 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


233 


the  fullest  publicity  as  is  no  other  event.  There  may  be 
discrepancies  in  the  narratives,  but  they  are  such  as  might 
be  expected  in  fragmentary  accounts  in  which  the  wit¬ 
nesses  are  giving  impressionistic  reports  of  what  they  ex¬ 
perienced  and  no  one  of  them  is  endeavoring  to  tell  a 
complete  story. 

God  left  no  uncertainties  hanging  around  this  event  but 
placed  it  on  a  rock  in  the  broad  light  of  history.  It  is 
a  vital  fact  in  our  Christian  faith  and  we  can  join  with 
the  accent  of  conviction  in  reciting  the  most  ancient  creed 
of  the  church:  “1  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who 
suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead,  and 
buried;  the  third  day  he  rose  again  from  the  dead.’ ’ 

We  here  give  two  brief  quotations  from  recent  works  by  weighty 
authorities,  the  one  in  the  field  of  critical  New  Testament  scholar¬ 
ship,  and  the  other  in  the  field  of  biological  science.  The  first  is 
from  Dr.  G.  W.  Wade’s  elaborate  and  learned  New  Testament  His¬ 
tory,  who  concludes  his  thorough  examination  of  the  narratives  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  with  these  words :  “Thus  the  available 
evidence,  in  the  case  alike  of  the  Eleven  Apostles  and  of  St.  Paul, 
points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  accounts  of  their  visions  of  the 
Risen  Christ  are  not  mere  dramatic  expressions  of  intellectual 
convictions  attained  solely  by  reasoning  and  reflection,  but  that 
certain  visions  were  creative  causes  of  those  convictions”  (page 
483).  The  second  quotation  is  from  Professor  James  Y.  Simpson’s 
Man  and  the  Attainment  of  Immortality :  “The  fact  that  we  are 
just  beginning  to  understand  the  effects  of  mind  and  particularly  of 
emotion  upon  the  metabolism  and  actual  constitution  of  the  body, 
that  we  are  only  on  the  threshold  of  our  knowledge  of  what  is 
involved  in  the  far  from  static  conception  of  personality,  and  that 
we  have  no  ability  whatever  to  estimate  what  would  be  the  effect 
of  a  sinless  spiritual  life  upon  its  physical  concomitant,  forbids  us 
to  relegate  the  story  of  the  Empty  Tomb  to  the  realm  of  legend. 
However  regarded,  the  Resurrection  is  the  supreme  proof  of  the 
triumph  of  spirit  over  matter”  (page  300). 

10.  The  Great  Commission 

Matthew  28 : 16-20. 

The  time  was  growing  short,  and  the  hour  was  come 
when  the  risen  Christ  must  announce  his  final  program. 
A  mountain  in  Galilee  was  the  appointed  place  for  the 
momentous  utterance.  It  was  fitting  that  this  program 
should  be  proclaimed  from  a  mountain  overlooking  that 
same  sea  around  which  he  had  labored  and  near  which 


234 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


on  another  summit  he  had  preached  the  ‘Mountain  Ser¬ 
mon  and  sent  its  great  words  rolling  through  the  cen¬ 
turies.  And  this  final  message  matched  the  mountain, 
massive  and  mighty  in  proportion  and  power,  with  its 
summit  bathed  in  the  blue  of  heaven  and  its  base  rooted 
deep  in  the  earth. 

On  this  mountain  gathered  the  company  of  the  believers 
to  hear  what  the  Master  would  say.  When  a  man  an¬ 
nounces  his  program  for  the  world  we  want  to  know  what 
his  credentials  are,  by  what  authority  he  speaks.  Many 
men  have  drawn  up  plans  for  reorganizing  society  and 
reforming  the  world,  but  their  little  schemes  have  come 
to  naught  because  they  had  no  depth  of  wisdom  in  con¬ 
structing  them  and  no  power  to  put  them  in  operation. 
Many  philosophers  have  had  dreams  of  social  reconstruc¬ 
tion  and  a  golden  age,  but  seldom  have  their  dreams  in 
the  slightest  degree  affected  the  course  of  the  world. 

‘  ‘  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  ‘heaven  and  in  earth,  ’ 9 
is  the  tremendous  affirmation  with  which  Jesus  prefaces 
his  program.  He  did  not  set  out  on  the  enterprise  of 
world-redemption  without  counting  the  cost  and  seeing  that 
he  had  the  means,  and  nothing  in  it  shall  fail  which  all 
power  can  accomplish.  Heaven  is  on  the  side  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  wheels  all  its  battalions  into  line  under  his 
banner.  The  power  that  framed  the  universe  and  forged 
burning  suns  on  the  anvil  of  creation  is  at  his  disposal, 
the  constellations  are  his  silent  and  eternal  allies. 

This  power  flows  down  into  and  envelops  the  earth.  The 
whole  framework  of  nature  is  pliant  and  obedient  to  his 
touch.  All  the  streams  of  human  energy,  population  and 
commerce,  wealth  and  war,  enterprise  and  adventure,  in¬ 
vention  and  discovery,  science  and  literature  and  art,  flow 
into  channels  that  are  guided  and  shaped  and  at  least 
limited  by  his  hand.  The  glorified  Christ  is  not  an  indif¬ 
ferent  or  impotent  spectator  of  the  whirling  panorama  of 
this  world,  but  he  sets  and  moves  its  scenes,  and  with 
majestic  dignity  he  declares,  “All  power  is  given  unto  me 
in  heaven  and  in  earth.’ 1 

Since  all  power  can  do  all  things,  we  might  think  that 
Jesus  would  with  his  own  hand  bring  immediate  redemp¬ 
tion  to  the  world.  But  this  is  not  his  method.  “All  power 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


235 


is  given  nnto  me,”  “Go  ye  therefore,”  is  the  divine  logic 
of  the  great  commission.  Divine  power  must  have  human 
means  through  which  to  work.  The  currents  of  celestial 
omnipotence  must  have  earthly  wires  along  which  to  flash. 

What  enormous  power  is  stored  up  in  a  steam 
hammer?  It  can  crush  a  steel  bar  or  deliver  the  lightest 
tap  that  will  not  hurt  a  child’s  finger.  What  controls 
and  guides  it?  The  workman’s  hand  on  the  lever.  The 
all  power  of  the  steam  and  the  puny  power  of  the  human 
hand  work  together  in  beautiful  harmony.  Either  with¬ 
out  the  other  could  do  nothing,  but  both  together  forge 
huge  axles  on  which  will  roll  the  world’s  commerce,  or 
mighty  shafts  and  anchors  that  will  drive  ships  through 
foaming  seas  and  defy  the  fiercest  storms. 

So  the  power  of  omnipotence  is  lodged  in  the  hands  of 
the  risen  Christ,  but  it  waits  for  our  cooperation  to  shoot 
forth  in  the  mightiest  blows  of  power,  or  to  slip  down 
in  the  softest  accents  of  love.  He  stands  back  of  us  with 
his  power,  but  we  must  go  at  his  bidding. 

On  what  mission  were  these  disciples  sent?  To  overrun 
the  world  with  armies  and  beat  it  into  submission  with 
the  sword?  To  set  up  a  world-empire  of  earthly  power 
and  splendor?  No,  but  to  “teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to  observe  whatsoever  I 
have  commanded  you.”  Standing  on  that  Galilean  moun- 
taintop,  he  was  looking  out  over  the  world.  Jesus  was 
no  provincial  Jew  or  parochial  philosopher,  but  he  stood 
in  universal  relations  and  was  shaping  all  coming  cen¬ 
turies.  “Make  disciples  of  all  nations,”  he  calmly  said, 
foreseeing  that  all  the  world  would  be  attracted  by  his 
truth  and  love  and  by  the  power  of  his  personality  and 
kingdom. 

Christianity  is  no  national  or  racial  religion,  it  refuses 
to  stop  at  any  mountain  range  or  ocean  shore  or  political 
boundary,  but  it  is  a  universal  faith  that  like  the  atmos¬ 
phere  must  flow  over  all  mountain  ranges  and  peaks  and 
envelop  the  whole  earth.  With  this  command  committed 
to  us  we  should  not  shut  the  gospel  up  in  our  own  lives 
and  land,  but  give  it  universal  wings  and  send  it  over 
all  lands  and  seas. 


236 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


What  is  the  connection  between  the  divine  power  of 
Christ  in  heaven  and  the  human  disciples  on  earth?  Is 
he  so  remote  and  separated  from  them  that  his  power  is 
unavailable  and  useless  to  them?  He  left  no  such  missing 
link  or  break  in  the  connection  at  this  point.  “And,  lo, 
I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.’ ’ 
JesuS  in  his  human  person  in  the  world  was  limited  to 
one  place.  On  this  account  it  was  expedient  that  he  should 
go  away  into  the  spiritual  world  whence  through  his  Holy 
Spirit  he  can  be  with  his  disciples  everywhere.  Sustained 
by  his  presence  apostles  went  forth  preaching  the  gospel, 
martyrs  stepped  into  the  flames,  and  missionaries  are  yet 
declaring  the  gospel  to  all  nations.  We  also  are  bound 
to  him  by  the  tie  of  loyalty,  and  he  is  ever  with  us  to 
give  us  the  victory  that  overcomes  the  world. 

Such  was  the  final  program  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  it  cor¬ 
responds  with  the  course  of  history  and  fits  this  far-off 
century  in  a  way  that  shows  he  was  indulging  in  no  empty 
dream,  speaking  no  random  guesses,  but  was  legislating 
for  the  ages  in  these  weighty  words.  This  grand  utter¬ 
ance  bears  the  impress  of  his  divinity  and  proclaims  him 
to  be  the  master  of  the  world. 

11.  The  Ascension 
Luke  24  •  50-53 

We  have  come  to  the  closing  scene;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  its  place  as  the  conclusion  and  climax  of  this  wonder¬ 
ful  Life.  Had  the  story  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  been 
an  invention  or  a  myth,  it  would  have  been  a  hard  matter 
to  know  how  to  bring  his  life  on  earth  to  an  end.  Christ 
was  risen  and  his  work  was  finished:  what  shall  be  done 
with  him?  He  must  not  be  permitted  to  die  again,  and 
he  cannot  remain.  The  critical  point  in  a  story  is  its  con¬ 
clusion.  It  must  keep  up  the  interest  to  the  end  and  close 
at  the  highest  point,  or  it  breaks  down  and  fails. 

How  shall  this  life,  that  opened  with  angel  minstrelsy 
in  the  skies  and  was  attended  with  many  wonderful  works 
and  has  just  emerged  from  the  tomb  and  been  crowned 
with  the  wonder  and  glory  of  the  resurrection,  he  brought 
to  an  appropriate  and  worthy  conclusion?  What  novelist 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


237 


or  poet  or  painter  would  dare  attempt  such  a  task?  But 
give  the  pen  to  one  of  these  humble  unliterary  followers 
of  Jesus  and  he  will  write  a  conclusion  that  is  a  fitting 
culmination  and  climax  to  the  whole  story,  and  that,  viewed 
simply  as  a  piece  of  literature  and  work  of  art,  is  one  of 
the  most  perfect  and  beautiful  things  in  all  the  books  of 
the  world. 

How  simple  and  natural  it  is,  how  free  from  all  art 
and  effort,  affectation  and  self-consciousness,  how  true  to 
reality!  The  man  that  wrote  the  story  of  the  ascension 
of  Jesus,  we  feel,  did  not  invent  it  and  never  thought  of 
inventing  anything.  Nobody  imagined  it,  it  was  a  fact,  the 
disciples  simply  related  what  they  saw,  and  here  it  is: 

And  he  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany,  and  he  lifted  up  his 
hands,  and  blessed  them.  And  it  came  to  pass,  while  he  blessed 
them,  he  was  parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven. 
And  they  worshiped  him,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great 
joy :  and  were  continually  in  the  temple,  praising  and  blessing 
God.  Amen. 

Who  can  gild  that  gold,  or  paint  that  lily,  or  throw  a 
perfume  on  that  bit  of  literature?  It  is  art  surpassing 
art,  simply  because  the  writer  had  no  other  purpose  than 
to  tell  what  happened  on  that  day  at  Bethany  when  the 
risen  Lord  made  his  farewell  appearance  to  his  disciples 
and  was  parted  from  them  and  carried  up  into  heaven. 

“He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany.’ ’  We  can  see 
the  little  company  emerging  from  the  eastern  gate  of 
Jerusalem.,  perhaps  on  a  bright  May  morning  when,  in¬ 
stead  of  the  darkness  of  the  crucifixion,  all  nature  was 
clad  in  fresh  colors  and  seemed  to  sing  in  gladness.  They 
descend  into  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  wend  their  way  up 
over  Mount  Olivet  and  down  its  eastern  slope  as  far  as 
to  Bethany,  all  the  while  talking  earnestly  concerning  the 
kingdom  and  the  disciples  possibly  all  unconscious  of  what 
was  impending. 

Every  step  of  the  way  was  crowded  with  sacred  asso¬ 
ciations.  In  ascending  Olivet  they  passed  by  Gethsemane, 
where  Jesus  fought  the  real  battle  of  the  cross.  At  the 
summit  they  stood  on  the  spot  where  he  first  saw  Jerusalem 
in  his  triumphal  entry  and  wept  over  the  city.  And  Beth¬ 
any  was  dear  to  him  by  many  ties.  There  was  the  house 


238 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


of  Martha  and  Mary,  where  he  had  so  often  dwelt  and 
rested.  Possibly  more  than  any  other  spot  it  was  home 
to  him.  No  wonder  his  feet  now  found  their  way  to  this 
place  when  he  was  about  to  take  his  farewell  look  at  earth. 
We  all  want  to  come  home  to  die.  Where  we  first  saw 
the  light,  there  let  the  final  rush  of  darkness  come.  Jesus 
was  human  to  the  last. 

Why  did  he  lead  them  out  only  as  far  as  to  Bethany? 
Why  did  he  not  lead  them  all  the  way  and  remain  with 
his  disciples  through  all  the  generations  and  centuries,  in 
every  land  working  miracles  and  speaking  as  never  man 
spake,  until  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  were  his?  Ought 
not  he  above  all  others  to  stay  until  the  end?  Yet  he  was 
the  first  to  go.  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany  and 
there  he  left  them. 

How  can  we  explain  this?  Jesus  himself  explained  it. 
“It  is  expedient  for  you,”  he  said,  “that  I  go  away.” 
Mark  that  it  was  not  expedient  for  himself  that  he  should 
go  away.  It  was  no  cowardly  desertion  of  his  post  of 
duty  that  took  him  out  of  the  world.  But  it  was  expedient 
for  the  disciples  that  he  should  go :  he  could  lead  them 
from  his  throne  in  heaven  better  than  he  could  on  earth. 
The  place  for  the  captain  of  a  steamship  is  up  on  the 
bridge,  not  down  at  the  wheel  or  in  the  engine  room. 
Lincoln  could  do  more  for  his  generals  and  soldiers  in 
Washington  than  he  could  have  done  for  them  on  the  field. 
The  ascension  of  Jesus  was  the  crowning  act  of  his  work, 
for  it  put  him  in  the  right  place  and  enthroned  him 
over  all  the  world. 

“He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany”:  he  led  them 
part  way  and  then  left  them.  This  is  the  way  God  is 
always  leading  us.  He  leads  us  out  as  far  as  the  Bible. 
The  Bible  throws  light  upon  the  path  of  life  and  yet  it 
is  never  a  complete  guide-book.  It  gives  us  general  prin¬ 
ciples,  but  hardly  ever  tells  us  what  to  do  next.  Why 
did  God  not  give  us  a  book  containing  minute  directions, 
for  every  step  in  life?  Because,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
impossibility  of  such  a  book,  he  means  to  leave  something 
for  us  to  do.  He  leads  us  to  Bethany  and  then  we  must 
find  our  own  way.  He  assumes  on  our  part  common  sense, 
a  prayerful  mind  and  an  obedient  will.  If  we  go  with 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  239 

Jesus  as  far  as  to  Bethany,  we  shall  safely  find  the  rest 
of  the  way. 

“And  he  lifted  up  his  hands,  and  blessed  them.”  This 
is  what  he  had  been  doing  all  his  life  long.  He  blessed 
the  blind  when  he  touched  their  eyes  into  sight,  the  hungry 
when  he  fed  them,  the  penitent  when  he  forgave  them  and 
the  sorrowing  when  he  comforted  them.  There  are  smit- 
ings  and  cursings  enough  in  the  world :  let  the  holy  hands 
of  the  Son  of  God  be  lifted  upon  it  in  blessing  and  in 
time  its  noisy  strife  and  wickedness  shall  be  stilled  into 
peace. 

“And  it  came  to  pass,  while  he  blessed  them,  he  was 
parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven.  ’ ’  He  came 
under  the  attraction  of  a  higher  gravitation,  and  instead 
of  being  bound  to  this  little  globule  of  earth  he  rose  into 
the  clouds  and  vanished  into  the  unseen  spiritual  world. 
What  possibilities  this  may  involve  or  hint  for  our  glorified 
bodies  we  do  not  know  and  need  not  speculate.  But  in 
being  carried  up  into  heaven  he  went  to  his  own  place. 
His  whole  life  had  been  an  ascent  and  another  upward 
step  naturally  and  necessarily  carried  him  into  heaven. 
He  simply  went  to  his  own  place,  back  to  his  native  coun¬ 
try. 

“And  they  worshiped  him.”  They  had  reason  to  wor¬ 
ship  him  before,  but  now  these  humble  disciples  knew  as 
they  never  knew  before  that  their  meek  and  lowly  Friend 
was  indeed  the  Son  of  God  and  they  could  only  worship 
him.  Worship  is  the  greatest  thing  man  can  do.  It  is 
this  that  makes  him  more  than  a  sheep.  This  is  the  high¬ 
est  exercise  of  his  highest  powers.  This  is  the  golden  chain 
that  binds  him  to  a  higher  life  and  another  world,  by 
which  he  casts  his  anchor  within  the  veil.  What  shall 
the  world  do  in  the  presence  of  this  Person1?  Only  one 
word  is  great  enough  to  express  it :  worship.  Crown  him 
Lord  of  all ! 

“And  they  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joy.” 
They  wanted  to  stay.  There  they  stood  gazing  into  the 
sky  at  the  point  where  Jesus  had  disappeared  as  though 
they  expected  him  presently  to  reappear.  But  while  they 
looked,  two  white-appareled  angels  stood  by  them  and 
said,  “Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  into  heaven? 


240 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


This  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven, 
shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into 
heaven”  (Acts  1:11). 

So  we  are  living  between  two  visits  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
this  world.  He  has  come  and  gone,  and  he  will  come 
again.  But  in  the  meantime  we  are  not  to  stand  gazing 
into  heaven.  From  our  worship  we  must  ever  return  to 
our  work.  This  worship  of  the  risen  Christ  has  now 
widened  down  through  the  centuries  and  its  works  are 
blessing  the  world. 

The  Life  of  lives  is  now  finished.  It  closed,  as  it  began, 
with  a  note  of  joy  so  that  all  the  way  through  it  has  kept 
its  initial  keynote.  Of  Jesus  it  is  declared  that  “God  hath 
anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows” 
(Heb.  1 :  9)  ;  he  was  the  gladdest  Man  that  ever  lived,  and 
his  gospel  is  still  good  news,  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to 
all  the  world.  The  world  is  still  heavily  burdened  with 
sin  and  sorrow  and  deeply  shadowed  with  gloom,  but  this 
Life  has  power  to  lift  the  burden  and  disperse  the  shadows 
and  will  at  last  cause  all  sorrow  and  sighing  to  flee  away. 
This  shall  be  finally  accomplished  when  the  ransomed  of 
the  Lord  shall  return  to  the  new  Jerusalem  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads. 

Having  followed  this  wonderful  Life  from  its  begin¬ 
ning  through  all  its  years  to  its  glorious  end,  we  shall 
now  see  how  it  fares  when  it  steps  upon  the  great  stage 
of  the  world  and  starts  down  through  the  centuries. 


PART  IV 

THE  SPREAD  OP  CHRISTIANITY 


M 


*  A«r 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

Christianity  has  now  come  to  its  critical  hour.  Its  Christ 
has  done  his  work  on  earth.  He  has  been  ushered  upon 
its  stage,  wrought  the  signs  of  his  divine  Saviourhood, 
taught  his  disciples,  proclaimed  his  mission  and  message, 
started  his  kingdom,  crowned  his  cross  with  his  resurrec¬ 
tion,  and  ascended  to  the  eternal  world. 

He  has  gone,  and  now  the  critical  question  is,  How  will 
his  cause  and  kingdom  get  along  without  him?  Will  the 
hands  of  these  human  disciples  be  strong  enough  to  hold 
the  fabric  of  the  new  kingdom  together  and  keep  it  on 
its  foundation  and  build  it  so  that  it  will  stand  through 
the  ages?  Will  the  story  of  the  life  of  Jesus  now  prove 
to  be  only  “a  sweet  Galilean  vision’ 1  which  will  quickly 
fade  and  leave  no  trace  that  can  be  discovered  under 
the  dust  of  the  centuries?  Or  will  Christianity  spread 
from  Jerusalem  and  start  out  on  a  victorious  march  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth? 

This  question  is  answered  in  the  Book  of  Acts  and  the 
remaining  books  of  the  New  Testament.  The  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  is  the  continuation  of  the  Four  Gospels  and  con¬ 
tinues  the  mission  of  Jesus  as  carried  on  by  his  apostles. 
It  is  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Life  of  Christ. 

It  is  a  stirring  story.  It  starts  out  splendidly  at  Pen¬ 
tecost  with  marvelous  success  and  promise,  and  then 
quickly  encounters  opposition  and  persecution.  Dark  and 
dangerous  days  follow.  But  the  fires  of  persecution  only 
scatter  the  sparks  and  flames  and  start  new  centers  of 
Christian  faith  and  fervor  at  widely  separated  and  distant 
points.  Christianity  is  a  fire  that  cannot  be  confined 
and  will  burn  its  way  to  the  great  rim  of  the  Roman  Em¬ 
pire  and  to  the  utmost  frontiers  of  the  world. 

243 


244 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


External  obstructions  are  bravely  overcome,  but  more 
insidious  and  dangerous  internal  difficulties  and  threat¬ 
ened  divisions  arise.  Two  epochal  questions  soon  con¬ 
fronted  the  new  faith:  Should  the  Gentiles  be  admitted 
to  the  Christian  church?  Had  this  question  been  an¬ 
swered  in  the  negative  it  would  have  constricted  Chris¬ 
tianity  to  a  Jewish  sect  and  then  it  never  would  have 
become  a  world  religion.  This  question  was  emphati¬ 
cally  decided  in  the  affirmative  and  a  deadly  danger  was 
passed. 

Practically  the  same  issue  arose  in  another  form :  Should 
the  Gentile  converts  be  required  to  submit  to  the  Mosaic 
ordinances  such  as  circumcision?  Had  this  requirement 
been  imposed  on  the  Gentiles,  again  would  Christianity 
have  been  strangled  in  its  cradle  and  would  never  have 
gotten  beyond  its  ancestral  home.  But  again  the  right  de¬ 
cision  was  reached,  and  the  new  faith  was  freed  from  the 
swaddling  clothes  and  fetters  of  the  old  faith. 

The  new  faith  thus  set  free  could  not  be  confined  within 
racial  or  national  or  continental  limits,  but  went  out  from 
Jerusalem  in  all  directions,  overleaping  all  boundaries,  and 
stepped  from  Asia  into  Europe  and  stopped  not  until  it 
had  reached  Rome  and  swept  a  circle  of  Christian  churches 
around  the  Mediterranean  shore. 

It  is  an  inspiring  spectacle  to  witness  these  conflicts  and 
triumphs  and  this  grand  march.  It  is  full  of  picturesque 
scenes,  critical  epochs,  dramatic  moments,  masterful  per¬ 
sonalities,  and  splendid  heroisms  and  martyrdoms,  unsur¬ 
passed  in  any  other  period  of  human  history. 

What  book  can  compare  with  the  Acts  in  vital  impor¬ 
tance  and  thrilling  interests?  Properly  seen  and  under¬ 
stood  it  is  a  grand  unfolding  panorama  set  on  the  mighty 
stage  of  the  Roman  Empire  that  kindles  the  imagination 
and  enchains  and  fascinates  the  attention.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  stirring  stories  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  important 
books  in  the  Bible.  In  the  following  studies  of  the  Spread 
of  Christianity,  as  in  the  Life  of  J esus,  only  selected  points 
and  scenes  can  be  presented,  and  the  endeavor  will  be 
made  to  paint  the  picture  with  some  life  and  color  so  as 
to  make  it  realistically  vivid  and  practical. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  CHURCH  IN  JERUSALEM 

When  the  disciples  returned  from  the  ascension  at  Mount 
Olivet  they  assembled  in  an  upper  room  in  Jerusalem  and 
proceeded  to  choose  an  apostle  to  take  the  place  of  the 
apostate  Judas.  Two  disciples  were  selected  who  had  com- 
panied  with  them  “all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went 
in  and  out  among’  ’  them  and  so  were  qualified  by  their 
personal  experience  of  Jesus  to  serve  in  the  apostleship. 
Lots  were  cast  and  the  lot  fell  upon  Matthias  and  “he  was 
numbered  with  the  eleven  apostles.”  Nothing  further  is 
ever  recorded  of  him,  and  this  may  leave  in  doubt  whether 
the  lot  is  the  best  way  of  choosing  an  apostle  or  a  minister. 

1.  The  Day  of  Pentecost.  Acts  2 

The  time  was  propitious,  for  the  harvest  feast  drew  an 
immense  multitude  of  people  who  thus  furnished  a  com¬ 
pact  mass  and  rich  soil  in  which  to  sow  the  gospel  and 
who,  in  turn,  became  winged  seeds  to  waft  it  out  over  the 
world. 

On  this  day  the  disciples  were  all  in  one  place.  There 
were  not  many  of  them,  but  they  were  all  there.  Not  one 
member  of  the  church  was  missing  to  leave  a  gap  in  the 
little  audience,  and  the  circuit  was  continuous  and  com¬ 
plete,  ready  for  the  flash  of  power  from  above.  There  is 
power  in  compactness,  and  every  vacant  scat  in  the  church 
is  a  break  and  leakage  in  the  current  of  spiritual  energy. 
The  disciples  were  not  only  in  one  place,  but  they  were 
all  together,  or  “with  one  accord,”  implying  they  were 
all  blended  into  unity  of  mind  and  heart.  There  were  no 
factions,  strifes  and  strained  relations  among  these  church 
members  to  divide  and  scatter  spiritual  power.  The  Spirit 

245 


246 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


cannot  travel  along  a  broken  circuit,  but  must  have  con¬ 
tinuous  minds  and  hearts. 

What  was  the  secret  of  this  mother  church  of  all  Chris¬ 
tendom  that  stands  to  this  day  as  the  greatest  church  in 
spiritual  power  and  fruitfulness?  It  was  not  numbers, 
for  it  had  only  a  hundred  and  twenty  members.  It  had 
no  scarlet-cushioned  pews  and  stained  glass  windows,  in 
fact,  it  had  no  church  building  at  all;  it  had  no  money 
in  its  treasury  and  did  not  even  have  a  treasurer;  it  had 
no  choir  and  pipe  organ  and  no  settled  pastor  or  salaried 
preacher.  It  had  no  elders,  deacons,  trustees,  no  Sunday 
school  or  missionary  societies,  and  no  formal  or  informal 
organization  whatever.  There  was  almost  nothing  there 
that  we  would  call  a  church,  yet  never  has  there  been 
such  a  church  since.  What  did  it  have? 

It  had  unanimity;  it  had  one  hundred  and  twenty  souls 
fused  into  one  great  thought  and  passion;  it  was  simply 
an  open  channel  free  from  human  clogs  through  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  could  flow  in  unobstructed  fullness,  and  such 
a  church  was  and  ever  will  be  drenched  and  flooded  with 
Pentecostal  power. 

The  human  conditions  were  ready  and  now  the  divine 
manifestation  came;  the  Spirit  found  the  continuous  cir¬ 
cuit  and  flashed  forth  in  power.  This  coming  of  the  Spirit 
was  meditated  in  and  through  physical  signs,  for  God  ever 
uses  material  crutches  to  support  spiritual  infirmities.  The 
wind  came  as  a  fitting  symbol  of  the  Spirit’s  work. 

Ordinarily  the  air  lies  around  us  invisible  and  impal¬ 
pable,  so  soft  and  still  it  does  not  rustle  a  leaf  or  fret  an 
infant’s  cheek.  But  let  the  sun  play  upon  it  and  wake 
its  slumbering  power,  and  it  begins  to  blow  in  breezes  and 
to  gather  into  a  storm  and  at  length  it  levels  forests  and 
lashes  the  sea.  So  may  the  Holy  Spirit  lie  around  us  un¬ 
felt  and  we  may  think  the  great  Spirit  of  the  universe  is 
dead,  but  when  we  are  in  the  right  condition  he  gathers 
his  energies  together  and  sweeps  down  upon  us  in  a  tide 
of  power  before  which  souls  are  tossed  as  leaves  in  a  storm. 

Tongues  of  flame  also  symbolized  the  Spirit.  Fire  as 
it  sifts  down  so  silently  in  the  soft  sunshine  does  not  seem 
to  have  much  energy,  but  it  makes  the  whole  earth  bud 
and  blossom,  and  as  it  is  condensed  into  the  lightning  bolt 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


247 


or  in  the  glowing  furnace  it  has  enormous  explosive  and 
motor  power.  The  truths  of  Scripture  are  condensed  spirit 
as  coal  and  wood  are  condensed  sunshine.  When  these  are 
kindled  by  the  fire  of  the  Holy  Spirit  they  develop  their 
hidden  energy.  Our  sins  burn  us.  Spiritual  things  that 
seemed  so  shadowy  and  evanescent  become  intensely  real 
and  we  see  them  solid.  It  is  as  though  a  new  world  were 
suddenly  opened  and  we  saw  God! 

On  this  occasion  Peter,  the  fisherman-preacher,  delivered 
a  great  sermon  from  an  Old  Testament  prophecy  that  went 
as  a  burning  arrow  into  the  bosoms  of  his  hearers  so  that 
“they  were  pricked  in  their  heart’ ’  and  began  to  cry  out, 
“Men  and  breathren,  what  shall  we  do?”  Peter,  without 
the  hesitation  of  a  moment  or  the  waste  of  a  word,  gave 
an  answer  that  exactly  and  fully  met  the  question  of  the 
hour.  “Repent!” 

This  was  the  first  recorded  word  in  the  public  preach¬ 
ing  of  John  the  Baptist  and  also  of  Jesus  himself,  and 
it  everywhere  stands  in  the  forefront  of  the  gospel. 

*  ‘  Change  your  mind,  ’  ’  as  the  Greek  word  means,  is  the 
initial  command  of  the  gospel.  This  change  is  a  voluntary 
act  which  we  can  effect  by  divine  grace,  and  it  rolls  a 
tremendous  weight  of  responsibility  upon  us,  calling  upon 
us  to  change  our  minds  toward  sin  and  Christ  out  of  in¬ 
difference  into  faith  and  action.  So  the  gospel  message  has 
not  changed  in  passing  from  Jesus  to  his  apostles  but  is 
the  same  yesterday,  today,  and  forever. 

A  wonderful  scene  now  followed.  Three  thousand  souls 
were  converted  and  the  little  church  became  a  multitude 
in  a  day.  Then  the  ratio  of  increase  was  twenty-five  con¬ 
verts  to  one  church  member,  but  now  it  is  about  twenty- 
five  members  to  one  convert.  If  the  church  today  were 
only  baptized  and  saturated  with  the  Spirit  as  was  1 
the  Pentecostal  church,  how  swiftly  would  the  kingdom 
march  around  the  world  and  how  quickly  would  Christ 
reign! 

The  scene  closes  with  a  picture  that  has  given  much  per¬ 
plexity  to  Christians.  In  the  enthusiasm  and  joy  of  their 
new  fellowship  these  converts  practically  abolished  private 
property  and  lived  together  in  a  state  of  communism  that 
some  dreamers  consider  the  ideal  state  of  society. 


248 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


But  several  considerations  modify  this  view.  Whatever 
the  nature  of  this  communism,  it  was  their  own  voluntary 
action  and  was  not  enjoined  upon  them  by  any  inspired 
authority  and  thus  it  has  no  authority  over  us.  It  may 
have  served  a  good  purpose  for  a  time,  but  only  for  a  time, 
for  it  soon  came  to  an  end  and  we  hear  of  it  no  more. 
Presently  we  find  these  early  Christians  exercising  the 
rights  of  private  property,  and  we  also  find  them  in  a  state 
of  poverty  so  that  collections  had  to  be  taken  up  in  other 
churches  to  help  the  Christians  in  Jerusalem.  Their  com¬ 
munism  thus  seems  to  have  had  the  effect  of  reducing  them 
to  beggary,  as  it  is  doing  today  on  a  colossal  scale  in  Rus¬ 
sia.  Private  property  has  been  and  is  a  main  root  of  hu¬ 
man  progress,  the  beginning,  said  John  Fiske,  of  civiliza¬ 
tion. 

Nevertheless,  the  spirit  of  these  first  Christians  in  this 
act  was  altogether  admirable  as  an  expression  of  their 
brotherhood  and  shines  as  a  splendid  star  across  all  these 
countries. 

2.  The  Martyrdom  of  Stephen.  Acts  6-7 

Pentecost  was  quickly  followed  by  persecution.  The  high 
hopes  of  swift  success  were  soon  dashed  to  the  ground. 
Peter,  who  preached  so  powerfully  and  eloquently  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  in  a  few  days  landed  in  jail.  The  apostles 
began  street  healing  and  preaching  with  such  success  as 
to  attract  crowds  and  then  to  draw  upon  them  the  notice 
of  the  priests.  They  thought  they  had  made  an  end  of 
Jesus,  and  here  he  was  back  upon  them  with  new  terror, 
risen,  it  was  said,  from  the  dead! 

They  arrested  and  tried'  to  stop  the  preachers,  but  they 
could  not  be  stopped  and  sending  them  to  jail  had  no  effect 
upon  them,  for  they  declared,  “We  cannot  but  speak  the 
things  which  we  have  seen  and  heard’ ’  (4:20)  and  “We 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men”  (5:29).  Men  of 
such  motives  and  might  were  not  to  be  intimidated  or  re¬ 
strained  by  priestly  threats  or  prison  bars.  And  so  the 
Gospel  message  that  started  off  with  such  power  and  mo¬ 
mentum  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  irresistibly  pushed  its  way 
forward  against  bitter  opposition,  and  the  three  thousand 
converts  of  the  first  day  soon  grew  to  five  thousand. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  249 

Christ’s  promise  to  his  disciples  that  he  would  be  with  them 
was  being  fulfilled. 

No  sooner  had  external  trouble  temporarily  subsided  than 
internal  trouble  arose  in  the  church.  Growth  outran  grace. 
The  apostles  and  first  Christians  were  still  human  with 
enough  unsanctified  depravity  in  them  to  breed  dissension. 
Unworthy  and  false  members  appeared  in  the  persons  of 
Annanias  and  his  wife  Sapphira,  who  attempted  to  gain 
the  popularity  of  being  counted  pious  to  the  point  of  turn¬ 
ing  all  their  goods  into  the  common  fund  without  paying 
the  price  of  such  coveted  reputation.  They  professed  to 
have  given  all,  but  they  were  telling  a  lie;  part  they  had 
secretly  held  back.  Such  a  sin  was  so  dangerous  and  deadly 
in  the  little  company  that  it  had  to  be  cut  up  by  the  roots 
in  an  example  of  solemn  warning,  and  sudden  death  re¬ 
moved  them. 

Another  difficulty  presently  arose.  The  apostles  were 
doing  everything  and  so  were  overworked  and  saw  that 
they  must  have  help.  Complaints  were  also  being  made 
that  the  charity  funds  were  not  being  fairly  distributed,  a 
complaint  with  which  the  church  is  familiar  to  this  day. 

A  congregational  meeting  was  called  and  the  apostles 
stated  the  situation.  It  was  enough  for  them  to  preach, 
let  others  be  appointed  to  manage  the  funds  and  take  care 
of  the  poor.  Thus  a  new  office  arose  out  of  this  first  church 
dissension  and  seven  deacons  were  appointed. 

This  gives  us  an  interesting  insight  into  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  church  government.  No  inspired  system  was  en¬ 
joined,  but  organization  grew  and  was  adapted  to  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  as  it  was  needed,  and  this  has  been  the  history 
of  the  church  to  this  day.  Afterward  bishops  and  elders 
grew  up  in  the  same  way.  They  were  chosen  or  appointed 
as  they  were  needed  to  meet  the  growing  demands  of  the 
expanding  church. 

Among  these  seven  deacons  Stephen  stood  first.  Noth¬ 
ing  more  is  known  of  him  than  appears  in  the  narrative, 
but  in  this  one  event  he  leaped  into  a  foremost  place  in 
the  history  of  the  church.  We  hear  nothing  more  of  his 
ministrations  as  a  deacon,  but  he  shot  far  beyond  this  office 
into  power  and  fame  as  a  preacher  and  inaugurated  a 
momentous  evolution  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  Paul- 


250 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


ine  doctrine  and  Pan!  himself  have  their  spiritual  ancestry 
in  Stephen. 

In  personal  character  he  is  described  as  being  “full  of 
faith  and  power.”  He  was  a  sympathetic  and  winsome 
man  whose  piety  was  the  beauty  of  holiness.  Such  men 
are  sometimes  weak,  without  offense  but  also  without  force. 
But  Stephen  was  also  a  man  of  power.  He  combined 
amiability  with  strength,  beneath  his  gracious  nature  lay 
stout  bones,  and  iron  burned  in  his  blood. 

Such  a  man  needed  looking  after  by  the  opponents  of 
the  new  faith  and  they  were  not  slow  to  rise  against  him. 
We  are  not  told  what  doctrine  Stephen  preached,  but  we 
may  gather  it  from  the  charges  brought  against  him.  Per¬ 
jured  witnesses  were  suborned  against  him,  and  while  their 
accusations  were  false  in  spirit,  yet  they  were  true  in 
substance,  for  Stephen  did  not  deny  them  and  his  own 
defense  bore  them  out. 

It  was  false  that  he  spoke  blasphemy,  but  it  was  true 
that  he  did  preach  doctrines  which  seemed  to  these  oppo¬ 
nents  destructive  and  sacrilegious.  He  did  speak  “against 
this  holy  place,  and  the  law,”  though  not  in  the  sense  and 
in  the  spirit  which  they  imputed  to  him.  It  was  doubt¬ 
less  true  that  the  witnesses  heard  him  say,  in  substance 
if  not  in  words,  “that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this 
place,  and  shall  change  the  customs  which  Moses  delivered 
us,”  for  Jesus  himself  asserted  this  very  thing.  When  he 
declared  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  “Woman,  believe  me, 
the  hour  eometh,  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain, 
nor  yet  in  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father”  (John  4:21), 
he  boldly  swept  the  temple  and  the  customs  of  Moses  off 
that  mountaintop  forever.  To  an  orthodox  Jew  no  more 
radically  iconoclastic  and  terribly  destructive  blasphemy 
could  have  been  uttered. 

Stephen  was  thus  the  first  Christian  preacher  to  grasp 
and  boldly  proclaim  the  truth  that  the  old  dispensation 
must  disappear  before  the  new.  He  began  to  shake  the 
Christian  church  loose  from  the  narrowness  and  bondage 
of  Moses  (necessary  and  good  in  its  day)  and  let  it  out 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  Christ.  This  process  cost  the 
church  a  long  conflict  in  which  Paul  was  the  magnificent 
champion  of  liberty,  but  it  was  Stephen’s  inspired  genius 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  251 

that  first  saw  this  epochal  truth  and  his  bravery  began  the 
battle. 

We  see,  then,  why  the  Jews  were  so  furiously  incensed 
against  Stephen’s  doctrine;  they  believed  their  religious 
life  was  at  stake ;  Moses,  who  has  been  the  innocent  cause 
of  so  many  ecclesiastical  controversies,  was  being  attacked. 
Yet  the  customs  of  Moses  were  not  being  destroyed  in  the 
sense  the  Jews  supposed  and  feared,  but  were  being  ful¬ 
filled;  they  were  simply  blossoming  out  and  ripening  into 
their  own  proper  fruitage  and  glory. 

Christianity  was  not  a  revolution  but  an  evolution.  It 
did  not  destroy  Judaism  any  more  than  the  flower  destroys 
the  root  when  it  blooms;  it  superseded  it  only  as  noon¬ 
day  splendor  displaces  morning  twilight.  The  same  process 
has  been  going  on  through  all  the  Christian  centuries  and 
is  still  in  operation  as  new  truth  enlarges  and  illuminates 
the  old.  We  may  be  needlessly  alarmed  as  we  see  changes 
going  on  in  the  church  and  the  wTorld  of  religious  truth 
as  though  the  new  were  destroying  the  old,  when  in  fact 
it  may  be  that  Christ  is  only  revealing  the  many  things 
he  has  yet  to  say  unto  us  and  is  thus  guiding  us  into  larger 
truth  and  fuller  meaning  and  wider  application  (John 
16:12-15). 

As  the  charges  were  being  made  against  Stephen,  the 
members  of  the  council  fastened  their  eyes  on  him  and 
saw  an  unexpected  and  wonderful  sight.  His  face  grew 
transfigured  before  them  and  became  as  it  had  been  the 
face  of  an  angel.  Stephen  seems  to  have  discerned  that 
his  hour  had  come  and  that  his  blood  would  be  the  first 
to  baptize  the  church.  Some  great  thought  or  passion 
kindled  his  soul  into  flames  that  shone  through  his  flesh 
and  lit  it  up  with  heavenly  radiance.  The  man  was  so 
nearly  pure  spirit  that  his  body  was  the  thinnest  possible 
veil  that  could  scarcely  contain  and  conceal  the  burning 
inner  glory. 

With  his  soul  thus  aflame,  Stephen  began  his  defence. 
His  long  address  is  one  of  the  most  notable  speeches  in  the 
Bible  and  repays  careful  study  and  analysis.  The  drift 
of  his  argument  is  proof  from  Scripture  that  God  did  not 
always  confine  himself  to  the  holy  land  and  sacred  places 
but  went  outside  of  these  in  revealing  himself.  The  address 


252 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


was  broken  off  before  the  argument  was  completed,  but  its 
logic  and  conclusion  are  clear.  His  whole  handling  of  the 
history  makes  it  plain  that  Stephen  is  not  hostile  to  Moses 
and  is  a  loyal  Jew.  But  he  shows  that  God  had  not  re¬ 
stricted  his  grace  to  any  one  “place”  and  “custom,”  but 
had  revealed  himself  in  many  places  and  through  many 
prophets. 

This  rapturous  speech  of  Stephen  was  too  much  for  his 
judges,  and,  stopping  their  ears  that  they  might  not  hear 
the  hateful  words,  with  shouts  of  rage  they  rushed  upon 
him  and,  in  violation  of  Roman  law,  hurried  him  through 
the  gate  of  the  city  to  the  place  of  stoning,  where  murder¬ 
ous  missiles  flew  hurtling  through  the  air  and  Stephen  was 
quickly  struck  down. 

At  this  point  in  the  dreadful  business  first  appears  on  the 
pages  of  Scripture  a  new  name  which,  though  it  rises  red 
as  blood  in  the  gloom,  yet  presently  shines  out  as  one  of 
the  most  splendid  stars  in  all  the  firmament  of  human  his¬ 
tory.  ‘  ‘  The  witnesses  laid  down  their  garments  at  a  young 
man’s  feet,  whose  name  was  Saul.”  In  this  incriminating 
attitude  is  first  seen  him  who  afterward  so  powerfully 
preached  the  faith  he  here  attempted  to  destroy. 

With  the  wonderful  prayer  upon  his  lips,  “Lord,  lay  not 
this  sin  to  their  charge,  ’  ’  altogether  in  the  spirit  of  the  Mas¬ 
ter  ’s  prayer  on  the  cross,  “Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do,”  Stephen  “fell  asleep.”  What 
a  triumph  of  the  grace  and  power  of  Christ  that  could 
draw  from  the  bleeding  lips  and  choking  voice  of  the  man¬ 
gled  and  expiring  martyr  such  a  self-forgetful,  forgiving, 
noble  prayer  as  this!  Verily  his  blood  shall  be  the  seed 
of  the  church. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  GOSPEL  SETS  OUT  ON  ITS  WORLD  MARCH 

Jerusalem  wasi  the  cradle  of  the  Christian  church,  but  it 
contained  a  vigorous  nursling  that  could  not  long  be  con¬ 
fined  within  infantile  limits,  and  we  shall  now  witness  it 
unloosing  its  swaddling  clothes  and  learning  to  walk  and 
overleaping  its  bounds  and  setting  out  on  its  world  march. 
It  had  been  born  in  Judaism  and  nursed  at  its  breast  only 
that  it  might  go  forth  as  a  world  religion  to  proclaim 
universal  salvation  and  build  the  kingdom  of  God  around 
the  globe.  This  world  adventure  of  Christianity  is  the 
most  inspiring  spectacle  in  the  New  Testament  and  in  the 
whole  Bible. 

1.  The  Gospel  in  Samaria.  Acts  8 : 1-25 

Persecution  is  a  powerful  propagandist.  Following  the 
death  of  Stephen  it  broke  out  violently  in  Jerusalem  and 
that  holy  mountain  flamed  with  fire  against  the  new  faith. 
The  city  that  had  crucified  the  Lord  now  began  to  slaugh¬ 
ter  the  Lord’s  disciples. 

But  persecution  only  scattered  the  believers  in  the  gos¬ 
pel,  and  presently  other  cities  near  and  far  were  infected 
with  the  new  faith  and  the  holy  contagion  began  to  spread 
through  the  world.  Fire  scatters  sparks  and  flames  and 
rapidly  extends  into  a  wide  conflagration. 

Philip,  the  evangelist,  went  down  to  the  city  of  Samaria 
and  there  started  an  evangelistic  campaign  that  stirred 
the  whole  city  and  resulted  in  a  multitude  of  conversions. 
Samaria  was  a  hard  place  in  which  to  begin.  The  Jews  had 
no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans,  for  there  was  deep  racial 
and  religious  enmity  between  them.  The  simple  fact  that 
Philip  was  a  Jew  was  an  almost  fatal  fact  against  him. 
And  his  message  was  also  an  unpopular  one  in  Samaria, 

253 


254 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


for  Philip  now  asked  these  enemies  to  give  up  their  ances¬ 
tral  faith  and  accept  Jesus,  a  crucified  Jew,  as  their  Mes¬ 
siah.  The  situation  was  further  complicated  by  the  pres¬ 
ence  in  the  city  of  one  Simon,  a  sorcerer,  who  had  given 
out  that  he  was  some  great  one,  admitting  the  fact  himself, 
and  he  had  so  hypnotized  the  people  that  he  had  them  un¬ 
der  his  thumb.  He  stood  in  the  way  of  the  gospel. 

Yet  nothing  daunted  or  discouraged,  Philip  went  to 
work,  and  soon  the  gospel  proved  itself  the  power  of  God. 
“The  people  with  one  accord  gave  heed,”  and  results  fol¬ 
lowed.  Unclean  spirits  were  cast  out  and  palsied  people 
were  healed,  and  “there  was  great  joy  in  that  city.”  How 
could  there  help  but  be  joy  with  such  work  going  on  in 
the  town?  There  was  the  joy  of  purity  and  liberty  and 
health,  release  from  superstition  and  fear,  for  they  were 
liberated  from  the  black  art  and  evil  influence  of  the  sor¬ 
cerer  Simon.  The  gospel  thus  brought  forth  its  proper 
fruits  in  this  first  town  outside  of  Jerusalem  in  which  it 
was  preached.  The  town  was  cleaned  up  and  righteousness 
blossomed  into  joy. 

Word  came-  up  to  Jerusalem  of  the  great  meetings  down 
in  Samaria,  and  the  apostles  sent  Peter  and  John  to  help 
in  the  work.  Time  was  when  John  wanted  to  burn  a  Sa¬ 
maritan  town  for  an  incivility  (Luke  9:54),  but  now  he 
went  to  the  capital  of  Samaria  to  help  in  a  great  revival 
in  that  city;  it  was  not  the  destructive  fire  of  a  conflagra¬ 
tion  that  he  wanted  to  see  sweeping  through  its  streets,  but 
the  beneficent  warmth  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

It  is  deeply  significant  that  the  first  Christian  mission 
was  sent  out  from  Jerusalem  to  Samaria.  These  two  moun- 
taintops  crowned  with  rival  temples  had  flamed  excom¬ 
munication  and  defiance  at  each  other,  but  now  they  were 
being  fused  into  unity  and  brotherhood  in  their  common 
Christian  faith  and  spirit.  Two  of  the  deepest  and  bit¬ 
terest  differences  among  men,  race  and  religion,  were  now 
closed  up  by  this  gracious  work  of  the  gospel. 

The  same  gospel  has  come  down  through  the  centuries 
and  spread  over  the  world,  dissolving  the  same  barriers  and 
melting  men  of  all  races  into  one  mind  and  heart.  It  is 
true  that  it  has  met  with  much  refractory  material  in  its 
march  of  brotherhood  and  its  own  disciples  have  not  al- 


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255 


ways  manifested  this  spirit,  but  this  is  its  true  nature,  and 
we  should  be  filled  with  the  missionary  spirit  that  will  move 
us  to  love  all  men  and  send  them  the  gospel. 

What  did  Peter  and  John  do  when  they  arrived  in  Sa¬ 
maria?  They  did  not  assume  an  attitude  and  air  of  eccle¬ 
siastical  authority  over  the  converts  and  take  charge  of  the 
meetings,  but  they  prayed  for  them  that  they  might  re¬ 
ceive  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  appears  that  there  was  some¬ 
thing  defective  in  the  baptism  of  Philip  in  that  he  had 
baptized  his  converts  into  the  name  of  the  Lord  J esus  only 
and  not  also  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  defect  was  cor¬ 
rected  by  Peter  and  John  by  administering  the  full  rite, 
and  then  the  Holy  Spirit  was  received. 

Peter  and  John  did  not  pray  that  the  church  in  Samaria 
might  have  an  imposing  building  and  an  impressive  ritual 
and  a  learned  and  eloquent  pastor,  but  that  it  might  have 
the  Holy  Spirit :  they  were  keeping  this  first  missionary 
church  close  and  true  to  the  Pentecostal  church.  If  any 
church  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  it  is  none  of  his,  what¬ 
ever  else  it  may  have  or  whatever  historic  name  it  may 
bear;  but,  having  this  gift  and  spirit,  all  things  else  will 
be  added  unto  it  in  their  due  time  and  proportion. 

Having  completed  their  mission  in  Samaria,  Peter  and 
John  “  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  preached  the  gospel 
in  many  villages  of  the  Samaritans.”  Having  done  their 
work  in  the  capital  city,  they  did  not  disdain  to  work  as 
they  passed  along  in  the  smaller  towns  and  villages  ;  they 
were  not  looking  out  for  large  fields  and  conspicuous 
places  in  cities  and  did  not  despise  the  day  of  small  things ; 
but  they  gleaned  sheaves  along  the  roadside  and  improved 
every  opportunity  in  wayside  ministries. 

Philip,  also,  having  completed  his  work  in  Samaria, 
passed  on  to  other  points  and  went  toward  the  south 
4 'unto  Gaza,  which  is  desert.”  He  may  have  thought  that 
he  had  been  sent  from  a  fruitful  work  in  Samaria  down 
into  a  desert  where  there  was  no  prospect  of  converts,  but 
here  he  fell  in  with  an  important  officer  of  the  queen  of 
the  Ethiopians,  who  under  his  ministry  was  converted  and 
baptized.  Though  he  found  him  by  the  roadside  in  a  des¬ 
ert,  yet  he  was  doubtless  the  most  important  convert  Philip 
ever  won  to  Christ,  and  so  Providence  made  no  mistake  in 


256 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


sending  him  from  Samaria  to  Gaza.  God  never  makes 
any  mistakes  with  reference  to  us,  and  our  best  guidance 
is  his  providence. 

2.  The  Conversion  of  Paul 
Acts  9  : 1-31 ;  22 : 1-21 ;  26  : 1-23 

Paul  was  a  Hebrew  university  graduate  and  a  lawyer 
and  influential  rabbi  in  Jerusalem,  and  also  a  Roman  cit¬ 
izen.  Born  in  Tarsus  in  Asia  Minor,  he  was  bred  in  Greek 
culture  and  could  quote  from  Greek  literature.  Three  civ¬ 
ilizations,  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Roman,  thus  met  and  min¬ 
gled  in  his  blood.  He  was  a  man  of  acute  and  powerful 
intellect,  of  logic  all  compact,  yet  of  poetic  and  fiery  tem¬ 
perament,  a  keen  thinker  and  forceful  writer  who  could 
sound  the  depths  of  philosophy,  or  let  loose  his  thoughts 
on  the  'wings  of  imagination,  and  an  impassioned  orator 
who  could  put  the  spell  of  his  eloquent  speech  on  vast 
audiences. 

Paul  is  probably  the  most  strongly  marked  character  in 
the  Bible.  He  was  unique  in  his  angular  individuality  and 
in  the  mixture  in  his  nature  of  incongruous  elements  and 
discordant  moods,  and  was  intense  and  uncompromising 
in  his  principles  and  convictions. 

Especially  did  he  stand  in  sharp  contrast  with  his  Mas¬ 
ter  and  Lord.  Jesus  was  country-bred  and  was  rural  in 
spirit  and  speech  and  manner.  He  lived  mainly  a  quiet 
life,  avoiding  cities  and  crowds  and  carrying  on  his  work 
in  the  by-ways  of  Galilee,  and  he  was  supremely  serene 
in  heart  and  temper,  yet  aggressive  and  bold  enough  on 
the  proper  occasion,  frequently  retiring  for  rest  and  med¬ 
itation,  bathing  his  soul  in  the  beauty  and  mystic  influence 
of  mountain  and  sea  and  dwelling  on  the  heights  in  com¬ 
munion  with  God. 

Paul  was  city-bred  and  his  ears  were  full  of  the  tumult 
of  the  market  and  the  uproar  of  crowds  and  mobs.  He 
was  intensely  active  and  ardent,  militant  in  spirit,  always 
ready  for  a  fight  and  scenting  the  battle  from  afar.  With 
almost  the  last  scratch  of  his  pen  he  exhibited  his  charac¬ 
teristic  spirit  and  summed  up  his  career  in  the  triumphant 
declaration,  “I  have  fought  a  good  fight.”  Although  he 


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257 


often  traveled  through  grand  scenery  and  frequently  sailed 
the  Mediterranean,  yet  there  is  not  in  all  his  letters  a  single 
allusion  to  the  beauty  of  nature  or  any  indication  that  he 
ever  heard  a  bird  sing  or  observed  so  much  as  a  blade  of 
green  grass.  The  glorious  architecture  and  art  of  Athens 
had  no  interest  for  him  except  as  furnishing  an  apt  text 
for  a  sermon,  and  versed  as  he  must  have  been  in  Greek 
literature  he  never  quoted  it  but  once  and  again  for  a 
sermonic  purpose.  He  was  so  absorbed  in  his  one  idea  and 
objective  that  he  had  no  time  or  thought  for  anything  else. 
“This  one  thing  I  do,”  was  his  principle  and  fule,  and 
never  did  a  great  man  more  imperiously  concentrate  and 
compress  his  powers  into  one  narrow  channel  and  swift 
impetuous  torrent  of  energy  and  life. 

Many-sided,  variously-gifted,  unspotted  in  character, 
deeply  religious,  terribly  conscientious,  tremendously  in 
earnest  in  his  convictions  and  volcanic  in  his  emotions,  by 
turns  cool  and  calm  or  hot  and  passionate,  at  one  time 
proudly  boastful  and  at  another  in  the  depths  of  self-hu¬ 
miliation,  adventurous  and  masterful  as  a  pioneer  preacher 
and  missionary,  absolutely  devoted  to  his  Lord,  and  brave 
unto  death,  he  was  one  of  the  great  men  of  his  age  and  of 
all  ages  and  has  helped  to  shape  all  the  Christian  cen¬ 
turies. 

Such  was  the  man  who  is  the  weightiest  single  witness  to 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  greatest  preacher  and 
missionary  and  practical  organizer  and  profoundest  theo¬ 
logian  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  We  have  already  con¬ 
sidered  him  as  a  letter  writer,  and  we  now  take  up  his  life 
as  he  steps  into  our  narrative  on  the  stage  of  his  dramatic 
conversion. 

This  epochal  event  in  his  life  burnt  itself  deep  into  his 
brain  and  left  a  vivid  impression  which  He  never  could 
forget  or  misunderstand  or  confuse  in  its  objective  reality 
with  any  subjective  illusion  or  delusion.  The  story  is  told 
three  times  in  the  Acts  in  chapters  9,  22  and  26,  in  the  last 
two  instances  by  himself,  and  he  never  tires  of  it.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  dramatic  and  interesting  pages  in  the  history 
of  Christianity  and  remains  to  this  day  as  one  of  its 
epochal  events. 

At  first  Paul  was  a  bitter  enemy  of  Christ  and  his  gos¬ 
pel.  An  intensely  orthodox  Jew  in  birth  and  blood  and 


258 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


training  and  zeal,  he  regarded  Christ  as  the  greatest  heretic 
and  most  dangerous  man  in  the  world,  and  his  soul  blazed 
with  hatred  toward  his  disciples  and  he  breathed  out  fire 
and  slaughter  against  them.  He  stood  holding  the  clothes 
of  those  who  stoned  Stephen  the  martyr,  as  we  have  seen, 
and  next  we  find  him  out  on  the  way  to  Damascus  to  carry 
the  work  of  death  far  beyond  Jerusalem.  It  took  him 
several  days  to  journey  on  horse  from  Jerusalem  140  miles 
northward  to  Damascus. 

This  must  have  been  a  time  of  cooling  down  and  quiet 
meditation  in  his  fiery  soul.  The  excitement  and  passion 
of  his  work  in  Jerusalem  had  subsided  and  he  found  him¬ 
self  out  in  the  solitude  and  silence  of  the  desert  under  the 
solemn  Syrian  stars.  If  there  was  any  still  small  voice  in 
him,  it  now  had  a  chance  to  be  heard.  Possibly  the  expir¬ 
ing  prayer  of  Stephen  strangely  awoke  and  rang  through 
his  soul.  He  unexpectedly  found  himself  troubled  over  his 
work.  He  was  surprised  to  find  his  convictions  were  not 
so  unanimous  and  solid  as  he  had  supposed.  Cracks  and 
fractures  began  to  cleave  his  conscience  into  doubts.  He 
felt  himself  on  the  eve  of  an  impending  crisis;  already 
conscience  was  ripe  for  revolt. 

This  view  of  his  psychological  condition  is  not  explicitly 
disclosed  in  the  record,  but  it  is  in  accordance  with  human 
experience  and  it  is  suggested  by  the  statement  in  his  nar¬ 
rative  that  “as  I  made  my  journey”  the  crisis  came. 

Upon  this  thoughtful  and  troubled  man  conversion  fell. 
Damascus  was  near  and  decision  could  not  be  delayed.  The 
Holy  Spirit  found  him  trembling  upon  the  point  of  doubt 
and  bore  down  upon  him  at  this  critical  moment. 

As  in  all  conversions,  human  and  divine  elements  were 
interblended  and  worked  together.  There  were  spectac¬ 
ular  features  in  his  case  that  were  supernatural  and  unique, 
but  the  same  essential  principles  operate  in  every  converted 
soul.  A  blinding  blaze  of  light  burnt  through  the  sky 
above  him  and  the  proud  persecutor  was  unhorsed.  A 
voice  was  then  heard  saying,  ‘  ‘  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest 
thou  me?”  This  was  probably  the  very  question  that  was 
troubling  Saul  himself.  The  Spirit  touched  the  sorest 
point  in  his  conscience,  piercing  his  sin. 

Saul  answered,  “Who  art  thou,  Lord?”  Already  he 


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259 


seems  to  know  the  person  addressing  him  as  the  Lord.  A 
wonderful  answer  was  given  to  this  inquiry:  “I  am  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  persecutest.  ’  ’  This  was  a  startling 
revelation  and  might  well  have  struck  terror  into  Saul’s 
soul.  But  he  was  now  fast  falling  into  an  attitude  of  faith 
and  obedience.  “What  shall  I  do,  Lord?”  was  now  his 
inquiry.  Already  his  restless  energies  are  being  reversed 
and  were  eager  to  flow  in  the  channel  of  service  for  Jesus. 
And  the  answer  came,  “Arise,  and  go  into  Damascus.” 
Not  another  word  about  persecution,  but  only  ymrds  of 
kindness  and  guidance  were  spoken  to  the  prostrate  hum¬ 
bled  man.  Saul’s  sin  was  overwhelmed  withj  God’s  mercy 
and  washed  away  in  a  flood  of  grace. 

Saul  was  now  given  further  directions  as  to  where  he 
was  to  go  and  what  he  was  to  do,  for  conversion  does  not 
answer  all  questions  and  clear  up  all  difficulties.  It  usually 
makes  plain  only  a  few  steps  which  on  being  taken  will 
lead  us  to  more  light.  Saul  took  these  few  steps;  he  rose 
from  the  ground  and  went  into  the  city.  He  immediately 
obeyed  his  newly  found  Lord,  threw  his  will  into  the  cur¬ 
rent  of  his  Master’s  will  and  turned  his  faith  into  faith¬ 
fulness. 

There  were  doubtless  days  of  profound  meditation 
and  self-examination  in  which  Paul  sat  alone  with 
himself  and  thought  upon  his  ways.  The  past  was  full  of 
pain  and  the  future  of  problems.  He  wanted  to  be  sure 
of  himself  and  of  his  Lord,  and  he  fought  every  doubt 
through  to  victory.  In  Damascus  he  was  baptized  and 
“straightway  he  preached  Christ  in  the  synagogues,  that 
he  is  the  Son  of  God.”  Thus  he  turned  around  and  began 
to  preach  the  very  faith  he  had  sought  to  destroy  and  re¬ 
ceived  his  great  commission  that  he  was  to  bear  the  name 
of  Christ  to  the  Gentiles.  Christianity  won  its  most  pow¬ 
erful  preacher  an(^  apostle  that  day. 

At  this  point  the  Epistles  of  Paul  begin  to  throw  light 
upon  his  life,  and  he  tells  us  in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians 
that  immediately  after  his  conversion  he  “went  into  Ara¬ 
bia”  (1:17)  and  then  returned  to  Damascus  and  that  it 
was  three  years  after  this  that  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem. 
How  long  he  remained  in  Arabia  and  why  he  went  there 
are  not  disclosed,  but  it  seems  evident  that  he  retired  into 


260  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

that  desert  region  for  a  season  of  further  meditation  and 
preparation  for  his  public  ministry.  This  period  corre¬ 
sponds  with  the  “silent  years  of  Jesus”  in  which  he  was 
getting  ready  for  his  work.  Paul  also  felt  the  need  of  strik¬ 
ing  his  roots  deep  into  the  soil  of  conviction  and  gathering 
strength  and  ripened  wisdom  and  unconquerable  resolu¬ 
tion  for  the  work  to  which  he  had  been  called  and  that  he 
might  pay  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion  to  his  Lord 
and  be  faithful  even  unto  death. 

3.  Peter  and  Cornelius.  Acts  10 

The  apostles  were  now  carrying  the  gospel  out  from  Je¬ 
rusalem  in  every  direction  and  Peter  went  down  to  Lydda 
and  on  to  Joppa  on  the  Mediterranean  where  he  went  into 
the  house  of  Simon,  a  tanner,  and  lodged  there.  Little  did 
he  knowr  or  dream  wdiat  epochal  event  would  happen  to 
him  when  he  went  into  that  house  “by  the  sea.” 

About  forty  miles  to  the  north  was  Caesarea  and  the 
scene  suddenly  changes  to  that  city.  Cornelius  was  a  Ro¬ 
man  soldier,  captain  of  the  Italian  cohort  stationed  at 
Cassarea.  He  is  described  as  “a  devout  man,  and  one 
that  feared  God,  who  gave  much  alms  to  the  people,  and 
prayed  to  God  alway.”  His  relation  to  Judaism  is  not 
clear,  but  he  was  a  Gentile  that  had  derived  some  light 
from  Jewish  revelation  and  had  become  a  worshiper  of  Je¬ 
hovah.  He  was  one  of  the  pious  people  we  find  in  unex¬ 
pected  places,  even  out  in  the  heathen  world  where  to  this 
day  we  discover  wild-growing  saints  who  compare  with 
Christian  worshipers  in  piety  as  we  find  wild  flowers  in  the 
forest  that  rival  cultivated  blossoms  in  beauty.  God  has 
not  left  himself  without  a  witness  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
and  his  Spirit  works  unseen  and  unknown  in  many  hearts. 

While  engaged  in  fasting  and  prayer  at  three  o’clock 
in  the  afternoon  Cornelius  had  a  vision.  A  bright-appar¬ 
eled  figure  stood  before  him  and  said,  “Cornelius,  thy 
prayer  is  heard,  and  thine  alms  are  had  in  remembrance  in 
the  sight  of  God.”  The  angel  now  told  Cornelius  to  send 
to  Joppa  for  Peter  and  gave  particular  directions  how  to 
find  him  and  promised  that  he  would  speak  further. 

Messengers  were  dispatched  to  Joppa,  and  at  noon  the 
next  day  as  they  were  drawing  near  that  town,  Peter  was 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


261 


having  a  vision  in  which  he  was  being  prepared  to  play  his 
part  in  this  complex  plot  of  providence.  Vision  matched 
vision,  and  both  led  on  to  a  great  victory. 

At  this  hour  Peter  went  up  on  the  flat  housetop  to  pray 
and  fell  into  a  trance  or  exalted  state  of  soul  in  which  he 
saw  his  vision.  A  great  sheet  held  at  the  four  corners  and 
swollen  like  a  sail  in  the  wind  was  let  down  upon  the  earth, 
and  its  contents  were  all  manner  of  beasts  and  creeping 
things  that  were  abhorrent  to  Jews  as  unclean.  A  voice 
commanded  Peter  to  rise,  kill  and  eat.  But  his  shocked 
sensibilities  refused  to  respond  to  such  a  command  and  he 
objected  that  he  had  never  eaten  anything  unclean.  Peter 
was  still  a  Jew  in  this  point. 

Then  came  the  voice,  “What  God  hath  cleansed,  make 
not  thou  common.”  Three  times  this  scene  was  repeated, 
and  then  the  swollen  sheet  disappeared  up  into  heaven. 

While  he  was  wondering  what  the  vision  meant  the  three 
messengers  from  Cornelius  knocked  on  the  door  and  in¬ 
quired  for  Peter.  He  went  down  to  them  and  heard  their 
story  and  the  next  day  he  went  with  them  to  Caesarea, 
where  he  met  Cornelius,  who  recited  to  him  the  story  of  his 
vision  and  how  he  had  been  instructed  to  send  for  him. 

This  incident  gives  us  a  glimpse  behind  the  scenes  and 
lets  us  see  how  Providence  works.  These  two  men,  apart 
from  and  unknown  to  each  other,  were  prepared  for  each 
other  so  that  when  they  met  their  experiences  matched  and 
the  two  played  into  each  other’s  hands  and  worked  to¬ 
gether.  God  is  always  preparing  us  for  our  work  and 
preparing  our  work  for  us  so  that  when  we  reach  it  along 
the  path  of  obedience  we  shall  find  it  ready  for  us. 

The  story  told  by  Cornelius  was  heard  by  Peter  with  as¬ 
tonishment  and  wrought  in  him  a  profound  revolution. 
Peter’s  creed  and  habits  of  thought  and  heredity  distilled 
into  him  out  of  more  than  a  thousand  years  of  racial  his¬ 
tory  experienced  a  sudden  jar  at  the  discovery.  His  most 
deeply  inbred  thought  was  that  God  was  a  respecter  of  per¬ 
sons;  that  he  had  put  a  wide  difference  between  the  Jew 
and  the  Gentile  with  all  the  favor  on  the  side  of  the  Jew. 
But  this  distinction  that  had  been  so  wide  and  deep  in  his 
mind  was  here  suddenly  blotted  out ;  in  a  moment  it  melted 
away  and  he  saw  with  amazement  that  there  is  no  such  dis- 


262 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


tinction,  that  “God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh*  righteous¬ 
ness,  is  accepted  of  him.” 

There  is,  of  course,  a  sense  in  which  God  does  respect 
persons:  he  respects  their  inner  moral  character.  But  he 
does  not  respect  their  outer  conditions,  as  the  Jews  thought. 
Birth  and  blood,  ancestry*  and,  heredity,  race  and  rank, 
wealth  and  social  standing,  are  not  matters  that  determine 
or  influence  his  relation  to  and  dealing  with  people ;  his 
classification  runs  along  no  such  superficial  lines  as  these, 
but  strikes  deep  into  the  heart. 

God  has  no  favorites  in  the  sense  sonm  people  think. 
Sectarianism  is  apt  to  breed  in  us  the  old  Jewish  feel¬ 
ing  of  exclusiveness,  but  the  Bible  is  a  broad  book,  the 
world  is  wide  and  the  Father,  has  many  children,  and  di¬ 
vine  grace  flows  over  all  human  inequalities  as  the  atmos¬ 
phere  flows  over  all  valleys  and  mountaintops.  “What 
God  hath  cleansed,  that  call  not  thou  common.”  We  have 
not  yet  learned  this  lesson  in  alL  its  breadth  and  fulness. 

Peter  now  delivered  his  message.  He  first  gave  an 
outline  of  the  grace  of  God  in  the  gospel.  God  sent  the 
word  to  the  children  of  Israel  through  Jesus  Christ  who 
was  anointed  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  whose  life  was  com¬ 
pressed  into  one  marvelous  shining  line,  “who  went  about 
doing  good.”  Yet  the  Jews  hanged  him  on  the  cross,  but 
God  raised  him  up  and  showed  him  openly.  To  these  facts 
Peter  gives  his  personal  testimony  as  an  eyewitness. 

Then  Peter  declared  that  he  was  charged  to  preach 
Christ  unto  the  people  as  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the 
dead,  and  broadened  out  his  message  into  the  universal 
promise  that  “through  his  name  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.  ’  ’ 

This  breadth  and  universality  of  the  divine  grace  had 
lain  latent  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  but  now  it  shone  out 
in  splendor,  and  Peter  realized  it  for  the  first  time  and  it 
came  to  him  as  a  wonderful  revelation  and  revolution. 
While  he  yet  spake  the  Holy  Spirit  fell  on  all  who  heard 
the  Word,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  there  and  then  began  to 
push  out  across  the  boundaries  of  Judaism  into  the  Gentile 
world.  Peter  has  now  found  the  same  road  that  Stephen 
and  Philip  traveled,  and  a  great  day  is  dawning. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  263 

4.  First  Council  at  Jerusalem:  Shall  Gentiles  Be 
i  Received  Into  the  Church  ?  Acts  11 : 1-18 

The  news  of  what  Peter  had  done  down  at  Caesarea  rap¬ 
idly  spread  through  Judea  and  was  soon  matter  of  talk  up 
at  Jerusalem.  The  report  was  abroad  that  “the  Gentiles 
had  received  the  word  of  God.  ’ 9  This  raised  the  great  issue 
that  could  now  no  longer  be  evaded,  What  was  to  be  the 
relation  of  the  Christian  church  to  Gentiles?  Were  they 
to  be  admitted  on  equal  terms  with  Jews,  or  were  they  to 
be  excluded  and  the  Christian  church  confined  to  a  Jewish 
sect?  This  was  the  greatest  issue  and  epochal  decision 
that  could  confront  the  church,  and  history  trembled  in 
the  balance  the  day  the  apostles  and  brethren  met  to  decide 
it. 

The  decision  was  made  at  a  council  held  in  Jerusalem. 
Peter,  learning  of  the  dissatisfaction,  took  with  him  six 
brethren'  who  had  been  with  him  at  Caesarea  and  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  to  give  account  of  himself.  There  “they  that 
were  of  the  circumcision  contended  with  him,  saying,  Thou 
wentest  in  to  men  uncircumcised  and  didst  eat  with  them. 9  9 

Who  were  these  “of  the  circumcision”?  They  were 
Christian  Jews  that  still  held  to  the  law  of  Moses  and  be¬ 
lieved  that  Christian  converts  should  be  circumcised.  They 
therefore  retained  all  the  Jewish  prejudices  against  the  un¬ 
circumcised  Gentiles.  Peter  by  eating  with  Cornelius  had 
thus  violated  their  religious  creed  in  one  of  its  most  vital 
points  and  had  shocked  them  beyond  measure.  A  breach 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  would  not  have  been  such  a 
dreadful  scandal  in  their  view. 

So  these  Jewish  converts  had  not  yet  gotten  a  glimpse 
of  the  splendid  breadth  and  universality  of  Christianity 
and  were  still  hemmed  in  and  blinded  by  their  own  nar¬ 
row  bigotry.  They  still  drew  the  boundary  of  God ’s  grace 
around  their  own  Jewish  race,  and  left  the  Gentiles  out  in 
the  darkness.  They  still  thought  they  were  the  favorites 
of  heaven  and  had  a  monopoly  of  its  grace,  and  that  all 
who  were  outside  of  this  pale  were  left  to  perish.  Let  us 
not  think  that  this  spirit  expired  when  the  last  Pharisee 
passed  out  of  the  world  and  it  is  still  lurking  in  some 
quarters  of  the  church. 

Peter  himself  had  at  first  been  of  this  way  of  thinking, 


264 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


not  only  when  he  was  a  Jew,  but  even  after  he  had  become 
a  Christian.  He  now  told  the  story  of  his  conversion  to 
these  offended  Jews.  The  vision  on  the  flatroofed  house  of 
Simon  the  tanner  at  Joppa,  the  great  sheet  with  its  beasts, 
the  command  to  eat  which  had  so  shocked  him,  the  arrival 
at  the  same  hour  of  the  messengers  from  Cornelius,  his 
visit  to  the  Roman  officer  at  Cassarea  and  the  descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  Gentiles  “as  on  us  at  the  begin¬ 
ning”  were  graphically  described. 

“Then  remembered  I,”  proceeded  Peter,  “the  word  of 
the  Lord,  how  that  he  said,  John  indeed  baptized  you  with 
water ;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  ’  ’  Pe¬ 
ter  had  heard  Jesus  say  these  words,  but  he  did  not  fully 
understand  the  promise  at  the  time  and  now  it  began  to 
blaze  out  in  its  breadth  and  brightness.  All  these  rays  of 
truth  and  lines  of  evidence  converged  into  such  a  flood  of 
light  and  overwhelming  proof  that  Peter  could  no  longer 
stand  by  his  old  convictions,  but  his  whole  mind  and  heart 
gave  way  to  the  manifest  universality  of  the  grace  of  God 
in  Christ. 

The  effect  of  the  narrative  was  decisive  upon  his  preju¬ 
diced  hearers.  If  Peter  had  entered  upon  a  theological  ar¬ 
gument  with  them  to  try  to  convert  them  to  his  view,  he 
probably  would  only  have  confirmed  them  in  their  opin¬ 
ions  and  exasperated  them.  But  this  plain  recital  of  facts 
silently  undermined  their  prejudice  and  the  whole  struc¬ 
ture  of  their  hereditary  exclusiveness  crumbled  down. 

“And  when  they  heard  these  things,  they  held  their 
peace,  and  glorified  God,  saying,  Then  to  the  Gentiles 
also  hath  God  granted  repentance  unto  life.”  They  also 
could  not  resist  the  logic  of  events  and  withstand  the  man¬ 
ifest  grace  of  God.  Their  noisy  clamor  against  Peter’s 
irregularity  and  scandal  in  associating  with  the  uncircum¬ 
cised  quieted  down,  they  held  their  peace,  often  a  very  hard 
thing  to  do,  they  grew  attentive  and  receptive,  and  they 
ended  with  glorifying  God  for  his  universal  grace. 

It  was  a  great  day  in  the  Christian  church  when  this  vic¬ 
tory  was  won.  Had  these  Jewish  Christians  been  able  to 
fasten  their  view  upon  Christianity  and  bind  it  with  their 
racial  constriction,  they  would  have*  doomed  it  to  remain  a 
Jewish  sect  and  it  never  would  have  reached  us.  This  vie- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


265 


tory  released  it  from  its  Jewish  shell  in  which  it  had  been 
hatched  and  let  it  spread  its  wings  for  its:  flight  out  over 
the  world.  We  need  to  appreciate  and  glory  in  this  uni¬ 
versal  breadth  of  the  gospel  and  proclaim  it  far  and  wide 
that  unto  all  men  of  every  race  and  nation  and  class  and 
condition  God  hath  granted  repentance  unto  life. 

We  see  how  the  truth  and  the  church  grew  through  the 
discipline  of  controversy.  The  early  church  was  disturbed 
and  torn  with  these  discussions  and  dissensions  as  to  doc¬ 
trine  and  polity  so  that  the  first  Christian  centuries  seem 
a  sea  of  strife.  And  yet  it  was  through  these  controver¬ 
sies  that  great  doctrines  were  wrought  out  and  estab¬ 
lished,  and  never  did  Christianity  have  a  more  rapid  and 
vigorous  growth  and  win  mightier  victories  than  during 
these  times. 

Controversy  is  never  to  be  sought  for  its  own  sake,  and 
it  should  be  avoided  when  this  can  be  righteously  done; 
but  there  are  worse  things  than  controversy.  Dullness  and 
deafness  to  spiritual  things  are  more  fatal  to  life.  The 
spirit  of  investigation  and  criticism,  of  revision  and  recon¬ 
struction,  of  unrest  and  change,  of  the  progressive  discov¬ 
ery  of  new  truth,  is  the  spirit  and  life  of  the  church.  These 
things  show  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  working  in  the  church 
and  fulfilling  the  promise  of  Christ  that  he  would  yet  re¬ 
veal  many  things,  and  that  Christian  men  are  still  relig¬ 
iously  alive  and  thinking.  And  when  discussion  and  even 
controversy  are  carried  on  in  a  Christian  spirit  of  mutual 
toleration  and  love,  they  are  sure  to  issue  in  some  broader 
view  of  truth  and  wider  and  deeper  experience  of  God’s 
grace. 

5.  The  Gospel  in  Antioch.  Acts  11  : 19-30 

The  echoes  of  the  great  persecution  in  the  days  of  Ste¬ 
phen  long  reverberated  through  the  world.  That  violent 
explosion  shot  flying  embers  of  the  church  far  from  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  we  find  them  at  many  points  around  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  shore.  One  of  these  points  stands  out  conspic¬ 
uous  as  one  of  the  most  important  centers  in  the  spread  of 
Christianity. 

Antioch  at  this  time  was  a  city  of  half  a  million  people 
and  was  the  third  city  in  the  world,  Rome  being  first  and 


266 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Alexandria  second.  It  was  situated  three  hundred  miles 
north  of  Jerusalem  on  the  river  Orontes,  twenty  miles 
from  the  sea.  As  it  was  the  political  capital  of  Syria  and 
a  center  of  commerce  and  art,  it  was  a  city  of  great 
wealth  and  architectural  magnificence.  It  had  many  fine 
temples  and  theaters,  a  main  avenue  running  through  its 
heart  four  miles  from  east  to  west,  paved  and  lined  on 
each  side  with  two  rows  of  columns,  and  walls,  aqueducts 
and  bridges,  of  which  the  massive  but  mournful  ruins  re¬ 
main  to  this  day. 

While  it  was  the  third  city  in  rank  it  was  the  first  in  cor¬ 
ruption  and  vice.  Near  it  was  the  famous  grove  of  Daphne, 
ten  miles  in  circumference,  an  immense  pleasure  estab¬ 
lishment  that  was  a  plague  spot  to  all  the  world.  Here 
vice  was  cultivated  as  a  fine  art  and  sensuality  as  a  rite 
of  religion.  So  infamous  and  infectious  was  its  evil  influ¬ 
ence  that  even  Rome  complained  that  the  Syrian  Orontes 
befouled  the  Roman  Tiber.  Yet  in  this  hotbed  of  vice  grew 
the  white  flower  of  Gentile  Christianity  and  the  name 
Christian  was  born. 

To  this  city  of  Antioch  came  certain  of  the  scattered  dis¬ 
ciples  and  began  to  preach  the  Lord  Jesus  to  “the  Greeks.” 
This  announcement  marks  a  radical  and  revolutionary  de¬ 
parture  in  preaching  the  gospel.  There  had  been,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  sporadic  instances  of  Philip  at  Gaza  and 
Peter  at  Caesarea,  but  these  disciples  deliberately  and 
openly  preached  the  Lord  J esus  to  the  Greeks,  the  heathen 
residents  of  Antioch.  All  distinctions  between  Jew  and 
Gentile  had  been  blotted  from  their  minds  and  they  saw 
and  seized  the  great  truth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour 
of  all  men  without  regard  to  their  race  or  rank  or  relig¬ 
ion.  Uncircumcision  was  no  longer  a  bar  to  conversion. 
The  ceremonial  law  was  gone  and  grace  had  come.  Moses 
was  no  longer  master,  and  Jesus  was  Lord  of  all. 

It  was  remarkable  that  this  revolutionary  policy  was  not 
inaugurated  by  the  church  authorities  up  at  Jerusalem  or 
by  ordained  apostles  or  deacons,  but  by  unordained  and 
unauthorized  laymen.  Certain  men  from  Cyprus  and  Cy- 
rene,  points  far  from  the  seat  and  sources  of  Christianity, 
began  this  business,  apparently  of  their  own  accord,  moved 
by  the  wider  and  freer  spirit  that  was  bred  in  the  hearts 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  267 

of  those  out  in  the  field  of  heathenism  in  close  contact  with 
its  needs. 

This  principle  has  been  frequently  exemplified  in  the 
history  of  the  church.  Great  movements,  such  as  the  Re¬ 
formation  in  Germany,  the  Wesleyan  revival  in  England, 
the  Sunday  school  and  the  Salvation  Army,  did  not  origi¬ 
nate  with  ecclesiastical  authorities,  but  with  unofficial 
ministers  and  laymen  among  the  common  people.  The 
human  heads  of  the  church,  as  represented  by  popes  and 
bishops,  conferences  and  assemblies,  are  generally  con¬ 
servative  and  often  obstructive,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
usually  pours  in  new  life  and  grows  new  organs  of  opera¬ 
tion  down  among  the  people. 

Often  new  movements  start  far  from  the  original  centers 
of  faith.  It  is  the  spirit  of  Christian  unity  that  develops 
among  our  foreign  missionaries  and  native  Christians 
abroad  that  widens  our  vision  and  brings  our  churches 
closer  together  at  home. 

The  news  of  what  was  going  on  down  in  Antioch  soon 
came  up  to  the  church  in  Jerusalem  and  it  was  determined 
to  send  a  committee  to  Antioch  to  look  into  the  situation. 
Church  authorities  do  not  ordinarily  start  new  movements 
but  they  usually  want  to  manage  them  after  they  are 
started;  and  this  is  right,  provided  they  sympathetically 
guide  them  and  do  not  try  to  obstruct  and  strangle  them. 

The  Jerusalem  church  was  fortunate  in  the  choice  of  its 
commissioner  to  Antioch.  Barnabas  was  chosen.  He  was 
himself  from  Cyprus,  not  far  from  Antioch,  and  was  thus 
qualified  to  understand  the  people  and  the  conditions  in 
that  city.  Better  still,  ‘  ‘  he  was  a  good  man  and  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  faith,”  and  was  therefore  a  man  of  broad 
sympathies  whose  goodness  of  heart  enabled  him  to  ap¬ 
preciate  men  and  movements  that  a  narrow  ecclesiastic 
would  have  quickly  run  foul  of  and  condemned. 

When  he  came  to  Antioch  he  saw  the  grace  of  God.  A 
differently  constituted  and  tempered  man  might  have  seen 
something  to  suspect  and  brand  with  the  name  of  heresy, 
but  Barnabas  saw  grace.  And  he  was  glad  and  exhorted 
them  all  with  purpose  of  heart  that  they  would  cleave  unto 
the  Lord.  He  saw  the  new  policy  was  inspired  of  God  and 
he  urged  it  forward;  and  yet  he  endeavored  to  guard  it 


268 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


from  ephemeral  enthusiasm  and  to  guide  it  along  solid 
and  permanent  lines. 

The  work  grew  and  Barnabas  needed  help.  Not  far 
around  the  Mediterranean  shore  was  Tarsus,  Paul's  home, 
whither  he  had  gone  after  his  conversion  and  had  been  in 
quiet  retirement  for  about  ten  years,  which  may  be  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  4 ‘silent  years"  of  Paul.  Barnabas  went 
after  him.  They  had  been  together  before.  When  Paul 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  after  his  conversion  and  tried  to 
join  the  disciples,  they  were  afraid  of  him,  but  Barnabas 
took  him  up  and  stood  by  him  (Acts  9 :  26-27).  Barnabas 
brought  Paul  to  Antioch  and  for  a  year  these  two  men,  so 
different  in  type  and  temperament,  worked  together  in 
preaching  the  gospel  in  that  city. 

At  this  point  a  new  name  appears  in  the  record  that 
shines  as  a  star  whose  lustre  has  brightened  with  increas¬ 
ing  ages  and  shall  never  be  dimmed.  “The  disciples  were 
called  Christians  first  in  Antioch."  This  name  was  not 
assumed  by  the  disciples  themselves  and,  it  has  been 
thought,  was  first  applied  to  them  in  ridicule.  Not  in  Jeru¬ 
salem,  but  down  in  the  Greek  city  of  Antioch,  famous  for 
its  witty  nicknames,  was  the  new  name  invented.  The 
Greek  idlers,  seeing  that  the  new  religionists  were  follow¬ 
ers  of  a  certain  Jew  named  Christ,  called  them  Christians 
in  derision  and  contempt.  Possibly  the  designation  was 
considered  a  happy  hit  and  was  greeted  with  bursts  of 
laughter. 

But  a  new  word  was  born  that  day  into  the  vocabulary 
of  the  human  tongue  that  was  destined  to  live  for  all  time. 
Like  many  another  word  spoken  in  ridicule,  it  has  become 
a  badge  of  honor  and  shines  above  every  other  name  given 
among  men.  It  may  have  been  a  derisive  contemptuous 
jest,  but  it  now  sparkles  as  one  of  the  most  precious  jewels 
in  the  vast  heap  of  words  that  men  have  piled  up ;  it  runs 
as  a  glittering  thread  of  gold  through  all  the  web  of  human 
speech. 

Those  Greek  jesters  spoke  better  than  they  knew  and  we 
thank  them  for  their  word.  But  now  that  we  have  the 
name,  we  should  not  dishonor  it  but  strive  to  live  up 
toward  it. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PAUL’S  MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS 

At  this  point  Paul,  called  from  his  retirement  at  Tarsus, 
looms  up  in  the  narrative  as  the  central  figure  and  fore¬ 
most  leader  in  the  story  of  the  spread  of  Christianity,  and 
beginning  with  his  first  missionary  journey  the  Book  of 
Acts  is  practically  his  biography ;  and  next  to  the  life  of 
J esus  it  is  the  most  important  and  thrilling  biography  in 
the  Bible. 

1.  Paul’s  First  Missionary  Journey 
Acts  13-14.  Galatians 

The  church  in  Antioch  grew  in  members  and  strength, 
and  then  a  call  came  to  it  for  larger  service.  “Separate 
me  Barnabas  and  Saul,”  was  the  call  of  the  Spirit,  “for 
the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them.”  A  new  line  of 
work  was  to  be  opened  and  the  foremost  leaders  and 
strongest  men  in  the  church  were  chosen  to  go  out  into 
the  foreign  field.  We  might  have  expected  some  doubt  and 
opposition  to  this  choice.  How  plausible  and  strong  would 
have  been  the  plea  that  these  two  ablest  men  in  the  church 
were  needed  at  home.  Was  not  Antioch  a  great  city  and 
center  that  ought  to  be  seized  and  conquered  for  Christ 
before  any  further  work  should  be  undertaken?  If  this 
policy  were  suggested  it  did  not  prevail,  but  the  divine  call 
was  trusted  and  followed. 

The  foreign  field  is  no  place  for  weak  men:  let  the 
church  send  there  her  strongest  and  most  gifted  sons  and 
daughters,  and  this  it  has  ever  done  as  the  long  roll  call 
of  famous  missionaries,  such  as  David  Livingstone,  elo¬ 
quently  attests.  It  may  have  seemed  to  some  a  poor  use 
and  needless  sacrifice  of  Paul  to  bury  him  in  the  obscurity 

269 


270 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


and  darkness  of  superstitions  heathenism,  but  it  was  the 
same  kind  of  sacrifice  as  that  by  which  a  grain  of  wheat 
falls  into  the  ground  to  spring  up  a  hundred  fold,  and 
Christian  Europe  is  its  splendid  fruit  and  justification 
today. 

‘  ‘  So  they,  being  sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  departed 
unto  Seleucia;  and  from  thence  they  sailed  unto  Cyprus.” 
The  narrative  interblends  human  and  divine  action  in  one 
statement,  in  one  verse  attributing  their  departure  to  the 
church  and  in  the  next  verse  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  Seleucia 
was  the  seaport  of  Antioch,  twenty  miles  down  the  Oron- 
tes  at  its  mouth.  Possibly  members  of  the  church  went 
with  the  departing  missionaries  as  far  as  this  port,  where 
they  bade  them  farewell  and  saw  them  disappear  on  board 
a  corn  ship  on  the  blue  Mediterranean. 

They  sailed  westward,  for  this  has  been  the  course  of 
empire  in  the  spiritual,  as  in  the  political,  kingdom  until 
it  has  encircled  the  globe.  Never  did  a  ship  set  sail  with  a 
more  important  and  precious  cargo.  It  had  aboard  the 
gospel  of  Christ  and  kingdom  of  God  compared  with  which 
all  other  freight  was  as  dust  and  chaff;  it  had  seeds  of 
truth  and  grace  that  were  soon  to  be  sown  in  Europe  and 
in  time  around  the  world  to  bloom  on  every  shore. 

A  sail  of  eighty  miles  brought  Barnabas  and  Paul  with 
John  Mark  as  their  attendant  to  Cyprus,  the  native  island 
of  Barnabas,  where  they  began  preaching.  They  worked 
their  way  westward  through  the  island  without  anything 
of  note  happening  until  they  came  to  Paphos,  at  its  west¬ 
ern  extremity.  Here  lived  the  Roman  proconsul  Sergius 
Paulus.  He  was  a  man  of  serious  thought  and  spiritual 
aspiration  who  hungered  for  something  better  than  was  of¬ 
fered  by  the  effete  Roman  religion.  He  was  some  such 
man  as  Cornelius,  possibly  another  wild-growing  saint, 
and  there  appear  to  have  been  many  such  in  the  Roman 
empire,  and  foreign  missionaries  find  them  today  out  in 
the  heathen  world. 

When  Sergius  heard  of  the  missionaries  preaching  a  new 
message  of  salvation  he  sent  for  them  to  come  up  to  his 
palace  and  desired  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  Here  was  a 
most  unexpected  and  promising  opening,  and  it  must  have 
been  with  great  hope  and  gladness  that  Barnabas  and 


OP  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


271 


Paul  declared  to  him  the  way  of  life.  But  an  unexpected 
obstacle  was  also  encountered.  Lurking  in  the  shadow  of 
Sergius  they  found  his  evil  spirit  and  tempter,  one  Bar- 
jesus,  a  sorcerer.  He  was  an  apostate  Jew  who  had  gone 
into  the  business  of  fortune  telling  and  magic,  a  kind  of 
religious  impostors  and  quacks  that  swarmed  in  the  Roman 
world. 

Paul,  who  at  this  point  forges  ahead  and  takes  prece¬ 
dence  of  Barnabas  in  the  narrative,  unmasked  the  smooth 
villainies  of  the  tempter,  branded  him  whose  name  was 
Son  of  Saviour  as  a  son  of  Satan,  and  he  was  stricken  with 
blindness.  Trying  to  blind  others,  he  was  blinded  himself. 
But  Sergius  himself  believed  and  was  the  first  convert  of 
the  expedition. 

When  the  missionaries  “loosed  from  Paphos,  they  came 
to  Perga  in  Pamphylia:  and  John  Mark  departing  from 
them,  returned  to  Jerusalem.”  Various  conjectures  have 
been  advanced  to  explain  why  Mark  left  Paul  and  Bar¬ 
nabas  at  this  point  and  went  back  home,  such  as  that  he 
may  have  thought  that  Paul  was  crowding  Barnabas,  who 
was  his  uncle  (Col.  4:10),  out  of  the  leadership  of  the 
party,  or  that  he  thought  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to 
the  Gentiles  was  being  carried  too  far,  or  that  he  lost  cour¬ 
age  and  could  not  endure  the  hardship  of  the  tour.  Evi¬ 
dently  Paul  at  this  time  thought  Mark  did  not  have  in  him 
the  stern  stuff  of  a  missionary. 

Whatever  was  Mark’s  reason,  Paul  did  not  forget  this 
act  when  they  had  returned  to  Antioch  and  were  preparing 
for  a  second  missionary  journey  over  the  same  ground. 
Barnabas  wanted  to  take  Mark  along,  but  Paul  opposed 
this,  and  these  two  leaders  parted  company.  Paul  believed 
that  Mark  had  been  unfaithful  once  and  should  not  be 
tried  again ;  Barnabas,  true  to  his  good  heart,  believed  that 
the  young  man  should  have  a  second  chance. 

So  these  apostles  were  quite  human  and  had  their  quar¬ 
rels;  but  their  dissension  fell  out  to  the  furthering  of  the 
gospel,  for,  as  we  shall  see,  on  the  next  journey  Barnabas 
took  Mark  and  sailed  for  Cyprus,  and  Paul  took  Silas  and 
struck  up  through  Asia  Minor,  and  so  two  missionary  ex¬ 
peditions  instead  of  one  set  out  from  Antioch  on  account 
of  this  quarrel.  It  is  pleasant  to  know,  however,  that  in 


272 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


time  Paul  and  Mark  became  reconciled  and  close  friends, 
for  in  his  second  letter  to  Timothy  Paul  bids  him  to  ‘ ‘  pick 
up”  Mark  somewhere  between  Ephesus  and  Rome  and 
bring  him  along  (II  Tim.  4:11). 

Thus  this  first  missionary  expedition  soon  struck  rocks, 
both  external  in  the  case  of  Bar-jesus  the  sorcerer  and  in- 
v  ternal  in  the  matter  of  Mark.  Foreign  missions  are  still 
attended  with  these  troubles,  and  we  must  not  expect 
smooth  sailing  and  easy  marching  in  our  Christian  work, 
either  at  home  or  abroad. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  now  passed  into  Asia  Minor  and 
stopped  first  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  where  Paul  delivered 
a  long  sermon  in  the  synagogue  (13 : 15-41),  and  when  the 
message  was  rejected  by  the  Jews  the  missionaries  turned 
to  the  Gentiles  with  many  converts;  but  when  the  Jews 
stirred  up  opposition  the  missionaries  moved  on  to  Ico- 
nium.  Similar  results  followed  at  this  town  and  then  in 
Lystra  and  Derbe,  the  farthest  point  reached.  At  Lystra 
Paul  and  Barnabas  had  a  specially  exciting  experience,  the 
people  at  first  worshiping  them  as  gods  and  then  stoning 
Paul  and  leaving  him  as  dead.1 

These  four  towns  were  all  in  the  Roman  province  of 
Galatia,  and  the  churches  founded  in  them  on  this  journey 
were  the  Galatians  to  whom  Paul  wrote  his  Epistle  of  this 
name.  From  Derbe  the  missionaries  retraced  their  steps 
back  through  Lystra  and  Iconium  to  Antioch  in  Pisidia, 
“confirming  the  souls  of  the  disciples,  and  exhorting  them 
to  continue  in  the  faith.”  They  then  proceeded  to  Perga 
and  ‘  ‘  thence  sailed  to  Antioch,  ’  ’  their  starting-point,  where 
“they  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  with  them,  and  how 
he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto  the  Gentiles.” 

The  first  missionary  journey,  attended  as  it  was  with 
both  external  and  internal  troubles,  was  successful,  prov¬ 
ing  that  the  gospel  was  the  power  of  God  to  the  Gentiles, 
and  leaving  behind  a  group  of  churches  that  played  an 
important  part  in  the  early  history  of  Christianity. 


1  It  is  a  striking  confirmation  of  the  accuracy  of  Acts  that  the 
worship  of  Mercury  and  Jupiter  as  associated  gods  was  a  local 
cult  in  and  around  Lystra.  See  Ramsay’s  The  Bearing  of  Recent 
Discovery  on  the  Trustworthiness  of  the  'New  Testament,  pp.  48-49, 
a  book  abounding  in  such  confirmations. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  273 

2.  Second  Council  at  Jerusalem;  Must  Gentile  Con¬ 
verts  Submit  to  the  Mosaic  Ceremonies  ? 

Acts  15 : 1-29 

No  sooner  had  Paul  and  Barnabas  arrived  at  Antioch 
from  their  first  missionary  journey  than  they  were  con¬ 
fronted  with  a  great  crisis.  ‘‘And  certain  men  which 
came  down  from  Judea  taught  the  brethren,  and  said, 
Except  ye  be  circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye 
cannot  be  saved.”  This  is  akin  to  but  not  just  the  same 
question  that  had  been  settled  at  the  first  council  at  Jeru¬ 
salem:  There  the  question  was,  Shall  Gentile  converts  be 
admitted  to  the  Christian  church?  Here  the  question  is: 
Shall  they  be  admitted  without  being  circumcised?  De¬ 
feated  on  the  first  point,  these  Judaizers  are  bringing  up 
practically  the  same  issue  in  another  form. 

We  must  try  to  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of  these  Ju¬ 
daizers  and  see  the  situation  from  their  point  of  view. 
It  seemed  to  them  that  the  admission  of  Gentiles  into  the 
church  without  circumcision  was  destructive  of  the  whole 
system  of  Moses  that  had  been  consecrated  by  more  than  a 
thousand  years  of  glorious  history.  This  was  a  terrible 
wrench  and  shock  to  their  orthodox  consciences,  and  we 
may  well  appreciate  if  not  sympathize  with  their  sore  ex¬ 
perience.  Yet  however  conscientious  they  were,  they  were 
not  blameless  in  their  blindness  to  the  breadth  and  liberty 
of  the  gospel.  Paul  calls  them  “false  brethren  unawares 
brought  in,  who  came  in  privily  to  spy  out  our  liberty,  that 
they  might  bring  us  into  bondage”  (Gal.  2:4). 

Pharisees  before  conversion,  the  Pharisaic  spirit  clung 
to  them  after  conversion.  Conservatism,  in  them  was  crys¬ 
tallized  into  fixity  and  finality.  They  were  narrow  rigid 
literalists  who  could  see  no  room  in  religion  for  any  dif¬ 
ference  of  opinion.  And  so  they  went  about  among  the 
brethren  as  spies  and  heresy  hunters,  stirring  up  dissen¬ 
sion  and  subverting  souls.  We  have  not  yet  seen  the  pass¬ 
ing  of  all  the  people  that  say  that  others  must  believe  after 
their  manner,  or  “ye  cannot  be  saved.” 

Paul  also  at  this  time  and  place  encountered  this  Ju- 
daistic  propaganda  in  another  quarter.  According  to  the 
order  of  events  in  the  life  of  Paul  that  we  have  adopted, 


274 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Judaizers  had  already  got  in  among  his  Galatian  converts, 
following  close  on  his  heels  through  the  towns  in  Galatia 
where  he  had  only  recently  founded  churches,  and  it  was 
at  this  time  in  Antioch  that  he  wrote  his  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians.  “I  marvel, ’ ’  he  begins,  “that  ye  are  so  soon 
removed  from  him  that  called  you  into  the  grace  of  Christ 
unto  another  gospel:  which  is  not  another;  but  there  be 
some  that  trouble  you,  and  would  pervert  the  gospel  of 
Christ”  (1:6-7). 

Paul  proceeds  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life  and  in 
chapter  2  tells  of  a  visit  he  made  to  Jerusalem  fourteen 
years  after  his  conversion  to  consult  with  Peter  and  other 
“pillars”  of  the  church  on  “the  gospel  of  the  uncircum¬ 
cision.”  We  take  it  that  this  visit  does  not  refer  to  the 
council  we  are  about  to  study,  of  which  the  account  is 
given  in  Acts  15,  but  to  a  previous  one,  possibly  the  famine 
relief  visit  mentioned  in  Acts  11 :27-30,  or  some  other  un¬ 
mentioned  visit.  It  would  appear  that  this  may  have  been 
a  preliminary  private  conference  in  which  the  question  of 
uncircumcision  was  practically  settled  before  the  public 
council  was  called. 

The  Epistle  itself  from  start  to  finish  is  a  trumpet  blast 
against  fastening  the  Mosiac  ceremonies  on  the  Gentile  con¬ 
verts,  and  into  this  liberty  Paul  pours  all  the  invincible 
logic  of  his  mind  and  passionate  heat  and  vehemence  of 
his  heart.  “The  business  of  the  letter,”  as  John  Locke 
long  ago  saw  and  said,  “is  to  dehort  and  hinder  the  Gala¬ 
tians  from  bringing  themselves  under  the  bondage  of  the 
Mosaical  law,”  and  it  does  this  with  a  vengeance. 

The  delegates  appointed  to  attend  this  second  council, 
consisting  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  and  “certain  other  of 
them,”  set  off  from  Antioch  and  traveled  by  land  three 
hundred  miles  southward,  strengthening  and  heartening 
the  brethren  by  the  way.  Arrived  at  Jerusalem,  they  were 
received  by  the  church  and  told  their  story  of  God ’s  doings 
among  the  Gentiles.  They  were  again  confronted  with  the 
demand  of  the  Pharisiac  Christians  that  the  Gentiles  be 
circumcised  and  the  law  of  Moses  be  imposed  upon  them. 

The  conference  then  met  and  the  different  views  were 
considered.  Peter  was  the  first  speaker.  He  reviewed  the 
circumstances  of  his  own  conversion  to  the  principle  of 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


275 


liberty  and  protested  against  putting  a  yoke  on  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  that  the  Jews  themselves  were  unwilling  to  bear. 
Peter  had  wavered  on  this  matter  at  an  earlier  day  (Gal. 
2:11-12),  but  he  stood  true  in  this  decisive  hour. 

A  great  silence  fell  on  the  conference  as  Paul  and  Bar¬ 
nabas  rose  to  speak.  The  exploits  of  these  missionaries  had 
made  them  illustrious  and  they  had  come  back  as  generals 
from  a  great  victory.  They  recited  the  story  of  their  fa¬ 
mous  campaign  and  rehearsed  the  wonders  that  God  had 
wrought  among  the  Gentiles. 

Then  James,  the  brother  of  Jesus  and  head  of  the  church 
in  Jerusalem,  spoke.  He  was  a  sympathizer  with,  if  not 
a  supporter  of,  the  Judaistic  party  (Gal.  2:12),  and  might 
have  been  expected  to  oppose  Peter  and  Paul.  But  he  took 
strong  ground  in  favor  of  Gentile  liberty  and  quoted  from 
the  prophets  to  prove  his  position.  The  principle  of  uni¬ 
versal  salvation  was  in  the  Old  Testament  all  the  while, 
but  the  Jews  did  not  see  it  until  the  light  of  the  gospel  fell 
on  its  pages  and  brought  it  out  in  luminous  lines. 

Thus  the  conference  brought  these  brethren  into  unex¬ 
pected  agreement  and  consolidated  the  church  in  the  prin¬ 
ciple  and  the  policy  of  universal  salvation  with  freedom 
from  the  ceremonial  law  of  Moses.  Christianity  was  again 
saved  from  Jewish  sectarianism  and  provincialism  and 
from  schism  and  was  finally  loosed  from  its  Judaistic  swad¬ 
dling  clothes  and  set  free  to  start  out  unimpeded  on  its 
worldwide  march  and  conquest.  It  is  because  of  the  ep¬ 
ochal  decision  made  at  this  council  that  we  are  Christians 
today. 

This  council  illustrates  the  true  method  and  spirit  of 
handling  religious  differences.  “And  the  apostles  and 
elders  came  together  for  to  consider  of  this  matter.’ ’  They 
did  not  fight  it  out  to  the  bitter  end,  but  they  came  to¬ 
gether  for  a  friendly  discussion.  They  sat  down  and 
talked  it  over  and  reached  a  decision  with  unexpected 
unanimity.  Conference  is  far  more  effective  in  settling 
differences  and  disputes  than  controversy.  Controversy 
heats  the  blood  and  intensifies  differences,  but  conference 
cools  passion  and  emphasizes  points  of  agreement.  In  all 
our  disputes,  especially  in  religion,  we  should  strive  to 
come  together  to  consider  the  matter  in  an  amicable  spirit. 


276 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


The  decision  of  the  conference  was  embodied  in  a  letter 
that  has  been  preserved  for  ns  and  is  one  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  documents  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  It  is 
the  Magna  Charta  of  our  right  as  Gentiles  to  share  in  the 
salvation  of  Christ  without  coming  under  the  bondage  of 
the  Mosaic  law. 

The  letter  consists  of  an  introduction  giving  the  history 
of  the  matter  and  a  resolution  or  exhortation  stating  the 
decision.  It  first  addresses  the  Gentiles  as  brethren  aad 
next  repudiates  the  troublers  of  the  church.  Paul  and 
Barnabas  are  strongly  commended,  thus  receiving  com¬ 
plete  vindication.  Finally,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
it  lays  upon  the  Gentiles  no  unnecessary  burden  but  bids 
them  abstain  from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  from  things 
strangled,  and  from  adultery. 

There  are  thus  in  the  letter  some  elements  of  compro¬ 
mise.  While  the  Gentiles  were  released  from  the  ceremo¬ 
nial  law  of  Moses,  they  were  yet  to  have  regard  for  the 
prejudices  and  feelings  of  the  Jews  and  not  wantonly 
offend  them  in  their  social  practices.  But  there  was  no 
division  of  the  church,  neither  party  sought  to  exclude 
the  other,  but  room  was  found  for  both,  and  the  unity  of 
the  church  was  maintained.  The  moral  law  of  Moses,  hoW> 
over,  remained  as  one  of  the  things  that  cannot  be  shaken. 

3.  Paul’s  Second  Missionary  Journey:  From  Antioch 
to  Berea.  Acts  15 :  30 — 17 : 13 

The  brethren  returned  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch  with 
the  decree  of  the  council,  “which  when  they  had  read, 
they  rejoiced  for  the  consolation. 7 ’ 

Paul  and  Barnabas  now  proposed  to  start  out  on  a  second 
missionary  tour,  but  they  disagreed  over  taking  Mark 
along,  as  we  have  already  seen,  and  so  they  parted  com¬ 
pany,  striking  out  along  different  routes,  Barnabas  tak  ing 
Mark  and  proceeding  over  the  route  of  the  first  jorara  ey, 
and  Paul  taking  Silas  and  traveling  by  land  up  throu  gh 
Asia  Minor. 

Paul  revisited  the  churches  at  Derbe,  Lystra  and  Ico- 
nium.  At  Derbe  he  did  a  surprising  thing  in  circumcising 
Timothy,  a  young  convert  whose  mother  was  a  Jewess  and 
his  father  a  Greek:  it  is  surprising  because  the  act  seems. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


277 


in  contradiction  to  Paul’s  whole  position  on  the  subject 
of  circumcision,  against  the  decrees  of  the  council  which 
he  was  at  this  very  time  delivering  to  these  churches  and 
especially  against  the  whole  teaching  of  his  Epistle  to  this 
very  church  at  Derbe.  Yet  Paul  gives  his  reason,  which 
was  that  he  wished  to  avoid  giving  needless  offence  to  the 
Jews  “in  those  quarters,  for  they  knew  all  that  his  father 
was  a  Greek.’ ’ 

Paul  was  willing  to  circumcise  Timothy  who  accepted 
the  rite  voluntarily  as  an  act  of  expediency,  hut  he  was 
unwilling  to  subject  any  Gentile  to  the  rite  against  his 
will,  and  for  this  liberty  he  stoutly  stood  to  the  end.  Paul 
was  ready  for  compromise  when  such  a  policy  involved  no 
principle,  but  for  the  principle  itself,  he  was  unyielding. 
This  is  simply  saying  that  he  was  a  man  of  good  sense  and 
knew  how  to  be  all  things  to  all  men  on  points  of  expe¬ 
diency.  Practical  life  is  full  of  such  compromise  in  which 
principles,  without  yielding  their  essential  nature  and  de¬ 
mands,  adapt  themselves  to  wise  policies. 

Paul  now  passed  on  until  he  came  to  Troas,  a  seaport 
on  the  Agasan  sea  separating  Asia  from  Europe,  where 
Luke,  the  author  of  the  Acts,  joined  the  party  and  steps 
into  the  narrative  (16:10).  Here  a  vision  swept  down 
upon  Paul  in  the  night,  in  which  he  heard  a  man  of  Mace¬ 
donia  calling,  “Come  over  into  Macedonia,  and  help  us.” 
Instantly  obeying  the  heavenly  vision  as  his  habit  was, 
Paul  with  his  three  companions,  Silas,  Timothy  and  Luke, 
sailed  from  Troas  across  the  Agaean  sea  to  Neapolis  on  the 
European  shore. 

In  going  over  this  narrow  arm  of  the  sea  these  travelers 
crossed  a  more  momentous  Rubicon  than  Csesar  ever  saw; 
this  voyage  of  a  few  hours  marks  one  of  the  greatest  cross¬ 
ings  and  epochs  of  history.  In  passing  from  Troas  to 
Neapolis  the  gospel  leaped  from  Asia  to  Europe  and  added 
a  new  continent  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  star  of 
spiritual  empire  here  started  westward  and  then  kept  mov¬ 
ing  onward  until  it  has  now  encircled  the  globe.  This  is 
why  we  are  Christians  today. 

The  apostle  and  his  companions  went  on  to  Philippi 
where  the  gospel  immediately  took  root  and  began  to  grow, 
for  it  is  adapted  to  every  climate  and  soil.  The  narrative 


278 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


speaks  of  the  missionaries  here  tarrying  certain  days — un¬ 
important  days  that  are  simply  huddled  together  under  a 
general  designation — and  hurries  on  to  a  special  day  that 
shines  out  upon  the  page  like  a  star,  that  never-to-be-for¬ 
gotten  “Sabbath  day”  when,  Luke  writes,  “we  went  forth 
without  the  gate  by  a  river  side,  where  prayer  was  wont 
to  be  made;  and  we  sat  down,  and  spake  unto  the  women 
which  resorted  thither.  ’  ’  This  seems  like  a  rather  unprom¬ 
ising  beginning  for  the  gospel  in  Europe,  but  no  movement 
that  begins  with  women  can  be  counted  unpromising. 

The  narrative  now  singles  out  “a  certain  woman”  whose 
interesting  story  is  told.  Lydia  has  the  conspicuous  honor 
of  being  the  first  Christian  convert  in  Europe.  She  was 
“a  seller  of  purple,”  a  business  woman  and  shopkeeper 
who  was  earning  her  own  living.  She  was  a  useful  worker, 
and  this  fact  shine3  as  a  crown  on  her  brow. 

The  beautiful  steps  of  her  conversion  are  linked  together 
like  loops  of  gold.  She  went  to  the  place  of  prayer,  she 
heard  the  gospel,  the  Lord  then  inserted  a  divine  link  in 
the  process  and  opened  her  heart,  she  attended  to  the  things 
that  were  spoken,  she  was  baptized  together  with  her  house¬ 
hold,  and  then  began  to  exercise  the  grace  of  Christian 
hospitality,  and  her  conversion  was  complete.  It  is  a  quiet 
orderly  conversion,  perfect  and  beautiful  at  every  point. 
And  so  “the  man  of  Macedonia”  that  Paul  heard  turned 
out  to  be  a  woman,  and  this  was  a  most  significant  start, 
for  foreign  missions  to  this  day  usually  wins  its  way  first 
among  women.  “The  Lord  giveth  the  word:  the  women 
that  publish  the  tidings  are  a  great  host”  (Ps.  68: 11). 

The  first  European  convert  was  a  woman  and  the  second 
was  a  man;  the  first  was  a  shopkeeper,  and  the  second 
was  a  jailer:  the  gospel  reaches  up  and  down  and  through 
society  in  every  direction  and  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 
The  first  conversion  occurred  in  a  quiet  prayer  meeting  on 
a  river  bank,  and  the  second  grew  out  of  a  mob  and  took 
place  in  a  jail  amidst  the  cracking  walls  and  shocks  and 
shouts  of  an  earthquake.  The  gospel  works  under  all 
conditions  and  tells  its  story  in  sanctuary  or  street  and 
knows  no  difference  between  the  iron-barred  windows  and 
stone  floors  of  a  prison  and  the  richly-stained  glass  and 
softly  carpeted  aisles  and  cushioned  seats  of  a  church. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


279 


As  Paul  and  his  companions  passed  to  and  fro  between 
their  lodgings  and  the  place  of  prayer,  they  were  followed 
by  a  fortune-telling  slave  girl  who  kept  crying  out  that 
“ these  men  are  the  servants  of  the  Most  High  God.” 
Paul  took  pity  on  her  and  released  her  from  demon  pos¬ 
session.  But  the  slave  girl  belonged  to  a  company  of  own¬ 
ers,  who,  seeing  that  they  were  losing  the  value  of  their 
property,  had  Paul  and  Silas  arrested  and  dragged  before 
magistrates,  charging  that  they  were  4 ‘Jews,”  which  was 
almost  a  crime  in  itself,  and  that  they  “do  exceedingly 
trouble  our  city,”  which  was  bad  for  business. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  were  soon  in  jail  and  at  midnight 
held  a  prayer  meeting  when  strange  music  floated  through 
the  dark  damp  corridors  “and  the  prisoners  heard  them.” 
An  earthquake  at  this  point  suddenly  rocked  the  prison, 
and  the  Roman  jailer,  fearing  that  he  would  answer  with 
his  life  for  escaped  prisoners,  drew  his  sword  to  slay  him¬ 
self,  when  Paul  called  out  in  the  nick  of  time,  “Do  thy¬ 
self  no  harm :  for  we  are  all  here.  ’  ’ 

The  jailer  cried  out,  “What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?”  and 
Paul  gave  the  compact  and  thrilling  answer,  “Believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy 
house.”  The  jailer  believed,  faith  rushed  into  fact,  and 
he  and  all  his  were  baptized  “straightway.” 

Lydia  and  the  Roman  jailer  illustrate  widely  different 
types  of  conversion,  and  there  are  many  such  types,  for 
the  wind  of  the  Spirit  bloweth  as  it  listeth. 

The  Roman  magistrates  wanted  Paul  and  Silas  to  leave 
the  jail  without  investigation  of  the  charge,  but  Paul 
stood  on  his  rights  as  a  Roman  citizen,  which  greatly 
alarmed  the  magistrates  and  then  they  came  and  besought 
the  prisoners  to  leave  the  city.  Roman  citizenship  was  a 
powerful  protection  throughout  the  empire,  and  more  than 
once  Paul  used  it  to  secure  his  rights. 

Paul  and  his  company  now  passed  on  to  Thessalonica, 
where  persecution  followed  them  and  drove  them  on  to 
Berea,  where  again  they  had  to  be  sent  away  by  the  breth¬ 
ren.  Persecution  was  still  the  great  propagandist  of  the 
gospel,  and  Paul  was  not  carried  through  Europe  on  a 
flowery  bed  of  ease  but  traveled  a  rough  and  thorny  road 
to  its  fatal  end. 


280  THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 

4.  Paul  at  Athens  and  Corinth 
Acts  17 : 15 — 18 : 18.  I  and  II  Thessalonians 

Driven  out  of  Berea,  Paul,  leaving  Silas  and  Timothy 
behind,  was  conducted  by  friends  down  to  the  sea  where 
he  set  sail  for  Athens.  This  city  was  “the  eye  of  Greece’ ’ 
and  the  university  city  and  intellectual  center  of  the  world, 
glorious  in  its  history  and  its  achievements  in  literature 
and  art,  but  none  of  these  things  interested  Paul.  The 
city  was  so  full  of  idols  that  it  was  said  to  be  easier  to  find 
gods  than  men  and  this  gross  idolatry  shocked  Paul’s 
Hebrew  soul. 

He  at  once  began  preaching  in  the  synagogue  to  the 
Jews  and  then  in  the  market-place  to  the  Greeks.  These 
keen-witted  people,  whose  main  business  was  to  scent  the 
latest  news,  were  quick  to  discover  in  Paul  a  philosopher 
who  had  something  to  say.  A  charge  of  heresy,  “  a  setter 
forth  of  strange  gods,”  began  to  be  whispered  around,  and 
he  was  invited  up  to  the  Areopagus  where  he  delivered  the 
speech  that  is  recorded  in  outline  in  our  narrative. 

The  introduction,  a  critical  part  of  every  speech,  is  a 
striking  exhibition  of  oratorical  genius.  “Ye  men  of  Ath¬ 
ens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye  are  very  religious.” 
The  translation  of  the  Authorized  Version  is  wrong  and 
turns  Paul’s  winning  compliment  into  a  repellent  charge. 
He  appealed  to  the  religious  nature  which  is  so  universal 
and  profound,  he  took  his  stand  upon  common  ground 
with  his  hearers  that  he  might  lead  them  up  to  higher 
truth. 

He  then  took  as  a  text  an  inscription  he  had  noted  on 
one  of  their  altars,  TO  AN  UNKNOWN  GOD,  Paul  quoted 
this  and  thus  further  won  the  confidence  of  his  hearers,  and 
announced  the  subject  of  his  sermon,  “Whom  therefore  ye 
ignorantly  worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you.”  By  this 
masterly  stroke  Paul  put  himself  in  touch  and  sympathy 
with  his  audience  and  then  led  them  on  through  his  dis¬ 
course  in  which  he  unfolded  the  revelation  of  God  in  na¬ 
ture  and  in  the  human  heart.  At  length  he  reached  the 
revelation  of  God  in  Christ  culminating  in  his  resurrec¬ 
tion. 

Paul’s  discourse  appears  incomplete  and  was  probably 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


281 


interrupted  at  this  point.  The  mention  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  was  too  much  for  these  volatile  Greeks  and  was 
greeted  with  a  burst  of  laughter  and  jeers.  Some  an¬ 
swered  the  missionary  with  mockery,  and  others  put  the 
preacher  off  with  the  easy  excuse  that  they  would  hear 
him  again  concerning  the  matter;  but  they  never  did. 

Yet  Paul’s  sermon  was  not  without  results.  There  were 
some  converts,  including  one  man  of  note,  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite  or  member  of  the  chief  court  of  the  Greeks, 
and  a  woman,  evidently  also  of  some  note,  Damaris.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  Paul  left  Athens  discouraged,  as  some 
have  thought,  yet  he  may  have  felt  that  the  university 
city  was  not  then  the  best  soil  in  which  to  sow  the  gospel. 
But  his  sermon  on  Mar’s  Hill  was  not  a  failure  and  stands 
out  as  one  of  his  most  conspicuous  achievements.  After 
all,  the  gospel  Paul  preached  there  that  day  did  in  time 
sweep  away  all  those  idols,  and  the  pagan  Parthenon  be¬ 
came  a  Christian  church. 

Fifty  miles  westward  from  Athens  on  a  narrow  isthmus 
stood  Corinth,  the  second  famous  city  of  Greece.  Though 
it  never  rivaled  Athens  in  intellectual  development,  it  al¬ 
most  equalled  it  in  art  and  surpassed  it  in  commerce  and 
wealth.  It  was  a  city  of  magnificent  architecture,  and  its 
Acrocorinthus  was  crowned  with  a  splendid  temple  of 
Yenus  that  matched  the  Parthenon,  which  was  visible  fifty 
miles  away. 

The  city  had  a  bad  eminence  in  vice.  Its  heterogeneous 
population,  containing  adventurers  from  every  country, 
and  its  wealth  and  luxury  made  it  a  hotbed  of  corruption 
in  which  every  kind  of  profligacy  grew  riotously  and 
shameless  orgies  attended  its  pagan  worship. 

Into  this  pleasure-seeking,  sin-saturated  city  came  Paul 
the  missionary  bringing  the  gospel  of  purity  and  peace, 
and  here  he  abode  and  labored  for  a  year  and  a  half.  Be¬ 
ing  an  utter  stranger  in  the  city,  Paul  sought  and  found 
lodging  with  a  family  consisting  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla, 
husband  and  wife,  who  had  been  lately  expelled  from  Rome 
by  the  edict  of  the  Emperor  Claudius.  As  this  edict  was 
issued  early  in  52  A.  D.,  we  have  in  this  an  event  that 
gives  us  a  definite  date. 

Here  Paul  labored  at  his  trade  of  tentmaking  to  support 


282 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


himself  as  his  avocation  and  began  preaching  the  gospel  as 
his  vocation.  “He  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  Sab¬ 
bath  and  persuaded  Jews  and  Greeks.’ ’  The  usual  oppo¬ 
sition  soon  developed  in  the  synagogue,  and  from  the 
Jews  Paul  turned  into  the  adjoining  house  of  Justus  where 
he  continued  to  preach.  Presently  he  began  to  gather  con¬ 
verts,  and  one  was  Crispus,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  who 
believed  with  all  his  house.  A  church  was  thus  founded 
which  became  important  and  figures  largely  in  early  church 
history. 

Who  were  these  people  that  formed  this  church?  Not 
the  wealthy  merchants  and  artists  and  aristocrats  of  the 
city,  but  mostly  they  were  its  scum  and  dregs.  In  a  letter 
written  to  them  afterward  (I  Cor.  6:9-11)  Paul  gives  a 
slimy  catalogue  of  the  classes  these  members  had  come  out 
of  and  says,  “Such  were  some  of  you,  but  ye  are  sancti¬ 
fied.”  This  was  the  kind  of  work  the  gospel  did  in  these 
heathen  hotbeds  of  vice,  and  it  is  still  doing  the  same  work 
in  great  heathen  and  Christian  cities. 

In  Corinth  Paul  seems  to  have  fallen  into  some  great 
fear  and  despondency,  but  a  cheering  promise  was 
vouchsafed  to  him  of  the  Lord:  “Be  not  afraid,  but  speak 
and  hold  not  thy  peace :  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man 
shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee :  for  I  have  much  people  in 
this  city.” 

While  in  Corinth  Paul  received  word  from  his  friends  at 
Thessalonica  through  the  arrival  of  Silas  and  Timothy 
(Acts  18:5)  and  heard  of  their  steadfastness,  and  this 
good  news  moved  him,  as  we  have  seen,  to  write  to  them 
his  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians.  It  contained,  how¬ 
ever,  a  passage  on  the  coming  of  the  Lord  (4: 13-18)  which 
created  some  misunderstanding  and  alarm  among  them,  to 
correct  which  Paul  hastened  to  write  his  Second  Epistle 
to  assure  them  that  other  events  would  intervene  before 
the  Lord  would  appear.  From  this  point  on  Paul  was  a 
frequent  letter  writer  and  thus  kept  in  touch  with  his 
churches  and  friends  and  greatly  widened  his  field  of 
labor  and  sphere  of  influence. 

Paul  at  length  left  Corinth  and,  stopping  for  a  brief 
time  at  Ephesus,  he  traveled  by  way  of  Caesarea  up  to 
Jerusalem  where  he  went  to  attend  a  feast,  probably  a 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


283 


passover,  and  having  “saluted  the  church,  he  went  down 
to  Antioch,”  his  home  base,  having  been  absent  on  this 
second  missionary  journey  upwards  of  three  years. 

5.  Paul’s  Third  Missionary  Journey 

Acts  18 :  23 — 20 :  3.  I  and  II  Corinthians.  Romans. 

From  Antioch  Paul  started  out  on  his  third  missionary 
journey  and  passing  through  Galatia  and  strengthening 
the  churches  there  he  came  to  Ephesus. 

Ephesus  was  the  principal  city  of  Asia  Minor  and  was 
the  center  of  commerce,  wealth  and  art.  Its  crowning 
glory  was  the  famous  temple  of  Diana  that  was  counted  one 
of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  It  rose  a  mass  of  pure 
white  marble,  magnificently  columned  and  carved,  and  its 
brilliant  beauty  glittered  far  out  at  sea.  Hewn  out  of  the 
side  of  the  overhanging  mountain  was  the  great  theater, 
capable  of  seating  fifty  thousand  persons,  the  stone  seats 
of  which  yet  remain. 

Under  the  shadow  of  this  magnificent  temple  of  pagan 
worship  Paul  began  his  preaching,  first  in  the  synagogue 
and  then  in  the  lecture  room  of  Tyrannus,  where  he  taught 
two  out  of  the  three  years  he  labored  in  Ephesus.  The 
presence  of  the  Jew  missionary  was  at  first  unknown  to 
the  Greek  priests  and  they  would  have  scorned  him,  but 
his  preaching  soon  began  to  diminish  the  throng  of  wor¬ 
shipers  in  the  temple,  and  in  time  the  gospel  of  the  Naza- 
rene  did  sweep  the  worship  of  Diana  off  the  earth. 

Some  strolling  Jewish  exorcists  tried  their  hand  at  imi¬ 
tating  Paul,  who  had  wrought  special  miracles  of  healing 
in  the  city.  Two  of  them  tried  their  art  on  a  man  with  an 
evil  spirit,  but  the  man,  frenzied  with  his  evil  possession, 
leaped  upon  the  impostors  and  beat  them  so  that  they  fled 
from  the  house  with  torn  clothing  and  bloody  wounds. 

The  result  of  this  disastrous  failure  was  that  fear  fell 
on  many  and  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified. 
These  penitent  believers  did  not  stop  with  confession  but 
brought  their  curious  arts  and  magical  books  and  piled 
them  up  in  a  heap  and  burnt  them  in  the  sight  of  all. 
Magical  books  have  a  great  fascination  for  Jews,  and 
Ephesus  was  noted  for  its  trade  in  such  writings,  often 


284 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


mere  strips  of  parchment  inscribed  with  mysterious  words 
or  sentences  which  were  supposed  to  have  miraculous 
power.  The  value  of  the  books  burnt  on  this  occasion 
amounted  to  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver  or  about  as 
many  dollars  today.  If  all  the  impure  books  and  gambling 
tools  and  evil  implements  in  the  world  were  burned  up  in 
one  great  heap  it  would  make  a  tremendous  conflagration, 
but  it  would  cleanse  the  world  of  much  unrighteousness. 
With  converts  bringing  forth  such  fruits,  of  repentance  we 
are  not  surprised  that  in  Ephesus  the  word  of  the  Lord 
grew  mightily  and  prevailed. 

The  gospel  was  now  making  such  inroads  upon  idolatry 
in  and  around  Ephesus  that  the  profitable  trade  in  images 
of  the  goddess  Diana  was  falling  off.  The  manufacturers 
felt  the  loss  and  cast  about  for  the  cause.  Demetrius  was 
the  man  that  hit  upon  the  trouble.  He  called  together 
the  workmen  and  delivered  to  them  an  artful  speech  in 
which  he  played  upon  their  fears  and  their  self-interest 
with  a  masterful  hand.  He  reminded  them  “that  by  this 
craft  we  have  our  wealth.  ’  ’  Eight  well  did  they  know  this, 
and  the  man  that  starts  off  with  this  proposition  is  bound 
to  have  a  hearing  and  carry  his  point.  Whoever  touches 
our  business  and  bread  touches  our  bones  and  blood. 

The  financial  argument  of  Demetrius,  appealing  to  their 
self-interest,  would  be  effectual  with  the  workmen,  but 
would  it  appeal  to  the  public?  The  wily  shrine  manufac¬ 
turer  was  equal  to  this  side  of  the  case  and  produced  an 
argument  that  took  the  whole  city  by  the  ears.  Not  only 
was  their  craft  in  danger,  but  it  would  also  follow  “that 
the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Diana  should  be  despised, 
and  her  magnificence  should  be  destroyed,  whom  all  Asia 
and  the  world  worshipeth.”  Piety  and  patriotism  were 
here  both  aroused  and  enlisted  in  defence  of  the  shrine 
business.  Orthodoxy  was  being  undermined  and  destroyed 
by  heresy  and  a  reign  of  irreligion  and  atheism  was  im¬ 
minent.  The  fall  of  the  temple  would  also  mark  the  fall 
of  the  city  and  its  glory  would  perish  from  the  earth. 

The  Ephesian  silversmith  artfully  linked  profits,  piety 
and  patriotism  together  in  defence  of  his  trade,  and  from 
such  a  speech  we  may  expect  great  results.  Demetrius  is 
a  plausible  fellow,  and  his  voice  is  still  heard  in  many  a 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


285 


modern  meeting,  whether  it  be  a  manufacturers’  trust,  a 
labor  union,  a  political  convention,  or  an  ecclesiastical 
assembly. 

The  effect  of  the  speech  was  tremendous  and  must  have 
exceeded  the  expectations  even  of  Demetrius.  There  was 
an  instant  outburst  of  wrath  from  the  silversmiths.  Profits, 
piety  and  patriotism  shouted  with  one  voice,  “  Great  is 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians!”  The  excitement  grew  and 
spread  and  soon  the  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  search  made  for  Paul,  but  he  was  not 
to  be  found.  Two  of  his  known  companions,  however, 
were  caught  up  by*  the  swelling  tide  of  madness  and  swept 
on  its  foaming  crest  into  the  theater.  Higher  and  higher 
rose  the  waves  of  wrathful  humanity  until  the  vast  theater 
was  a  surging  sea  of  furious  faces. 

When  Paul  heard  of  it  he  was  for  going  at  once  to  the 
help  of  his  friends.  His  brave  spirit  could  not  brook  the 
thought  of  personal  safety  at  the  expense  of  unfaithfulness 
to  others.  His  disciples  and  powerful  friends,  however,  in¬ 
tervened  to  save  him  from  a  useless  sacrifice.  The  Jew 
might  soon  have  been  torn  to  pieces  in  that  storm. 

For  two  hours  an  incessant  cry  was  kept  up.  At  length 
the  city  clerk  got  the  attention  of  the  senseless  wearied 
crowd  and  made  a  speech  marked  by  singular  wisdom  and 
justice.  He  reproved  the  Ephesians  for  their  small  faith 
in  their  religion,  pointed  out  the  legal  way  of  proceeding 
against  any  wrong  doer,  and  closed  by  threatening  them 
with  being  called  to  account  for  the  Romans  for  their 
disorder. 

This  speech  brought  the  Ephesians  to  their  senses  and 
the  human  sea  flowed  out  of  the  theater  and  left  the  stone 
seats  empty.  Paul  hastily  left  the  city.  Demetrius  seemed 
to  have  triumphed,  and  yet  he  was  really  conquered.  For 
Paul  had  inserted  a  wedge  in  that  temple  of  Diana  that  in 
time  split  it  down  to  its  deepest  foundation  stone,  and  in 
its  place  rose  a  powerful  Christian  church. 

While  in  Ephesus  Paul  wrote  his  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  correct  certain 
evils  that  had  arisen  in  that  church,  especially  a  factional 
spirit  and  moral  laxness;  and  a  little  later  he  followed  it, 
after  he  had  gone  to  Macedonia  on  his  way  to  Corinth,  with 


286 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


the  Second  Epistle  in  which  he  expresses  his  joy  at  the 
happy  turn  of  affairs  of  which  he  had  been  apprised. 

From  Ephesus  Paul  passed  through  Macedonia  to  Co¬ 
rinth,  where  he  remained  three  months,  and  at  this  point 
he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Komans  in  anticipation  of  his 
contemplated  visit  to  that  city.  Leaving.  Corinth  he  passed 
back  through  Macedonia,  stopped  at  Miletus,  the  seaport  of 
Ephesus,  where  he  bade  an  affecting  farewell  to  the  Ephe¬ 
sian  elders,  and  sailed  on  down  the  Mediterranean  coast, 
touching  at  various  points  with  interesting  incidents,  and 
landed  at  Caesarea,  where  the  company  “took  up”  their 
“baggage  and  went  up  to  Jerusalem.” 

6.  Paul  At  Jerusalem  and  Caesarea 
Acts  21 : 16—26 :  32 

When  Paul  arrived  in  Jerusalem  he  was  kindly  received 
of  the  brethren  and  he  hastened  to  pay  his  respects  to 
James  and  the  elders  of  the  church.  A  narrative  of  his 
labors  among  the  Gentiles  again  drew  from  the  church 
thanksgiving  and  praise  to  God.  The  church  seemed  to  be 
united  and  harmonious,  and  yet  the  old  antagonism  be¬ 
tween  conservatives  and  liberals  was  working  beneath  the 
surface. 

Some  of  the  elders  explained  to  Paul  that  many  of  the 
Jewish  Christians  were  zealous  for  the  Mosaic  law  and 
were  suspicious  of  his  orthodoxy,  having  heard  that  he 
rejected  Moses  altogether;  and  they  proposed  that  he  go  to 
the  temple  with  four  brethren  that  had  taken  a  vow,  and, 
by  thus  appearing  with  them  and  bearing  their  expenses, 
disarm  these  criticisms.  Paul,  in  accordance  with  his  prac¬ 
tice  of  being  all  things  to  all  men  in  points  of  expediency 
when  no  principle  was  involved,  complied  with  this  re¬ 
quest. 

The  next  day,  while  in  the  temple  with  these  Nazarites, 
he  was  observed  by  some  Asiatic  Jews,  probably  some  of 
those  who  had  opposed  him  in  Ephesus,  who  immediately 
seized  him  and  began  to  shout,  “Men  of  Israel,  help!”  de¬ 
claring  he  was  the  man  that  everywhere  rejected  Moses 
and  had  defiled  the  temple  by  bringing  Greeks  into  its 
sacred  precincts. 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


287 


Instantly  there  was  a  tremendous  Oriental  uproar.  A 
mob  seized  Paul  and  were  bent  on  killing  him,  when  Ro¬ 
man  soldiers  intervened  and  saved  him  from  the  popular 
fury.  The  Roman  captain  permitted  Paul  to  address  the 
crowd  from  a  stairway,  when  he  gave  an  account  of  his 
life.  The  next  day  the  captain  took  Paul  before  the  Jewish 
council,  where  Pharisaic  fanaticism  again  broke  out  against 
the  prisoner,  and  he  was  taken  back  by  the  soldiers  into 
the  tower  of  Antonia  where  the  Roman  garrison  had  its 
headquarters. 

The  plot  of  conspiracy  grew  thick,  forty  Jews  bound 
themselves  with  an  oath  that  they  would  not  taste  food 
until  they  had  killed  the  hated  apostate,  but  Paul’s  nephew 
hearing  of  the  plot  warned  the  captain  of  the  garrison, 
who  hurried  his  prisoner  off  under  heavy  guard  down  to 
Caesarea  to  the  governor.  Thus  from  the  historic  city 
where  he  had  been  educated  as  a  university  student  and 
had  entered  upon  life  as  a  rising  lawyer  and  had  taken 
such  a  prominent  part  in  persecuting  Christians  and  then 
had  returned  to  it  as  a  foremost  Christian  apostle,  Paul 
departed  as  a  prisoner  never  to  return.  Strange  must  have 
been  his  memories  and  reflections  on  that  memorable  day. 

Lawyers  came  down  from  Jerusalem  to  conduct  the 
prosecution  of  the  case  against  Paul,  but  Felix  the  gov¬ 
ernor,  after  a  preliminary  hearing  of  the  matter,  postponed 
the  case  on  the  ground  that  he  would  wait  until  Lysias 
the  chief  captain  would  come  down,  committing  the  pris¬ 
oner  to  a  centurion. 

One  day  this  wearied,  satiated  Roman  governor  bethought 
himself  of  the  prisoner  that  had  some  new  notion  on  the 
subject  of  religion  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  might 
while  away  an  idle  hour,  and  besides  get  some  money  out 
of  the  Jew  as  a  bribe,  by  hearing  him  speak.  In  a  lux¬ 
urious  room  in  the  palace  Paul  was  ushered  in  before  Felix 
and  Drusilla  his  wife. 

It  was  a  curious  situation.  Felix  was  judge  and  master 
of  Paul’s  life  and  with  a  nod  of  his  head  he  could  have 
sent  him  to  his  doom.  Yet  the  prisoner  was  to  preach  to 
the  judge.  How  strong  was  the  temptation  to  curry  favor 
with  the  governor  and  slip  in  a  word  for  himself.  How 
many  a  man  would  have  cringed  and  fallen?  But  never 


288 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


was  Paul  more  fearless,  brave  and  calm  and  truer  to  bis 
real  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 

The  sermon  Paul  preached  is  not  recorded,  but  its  three 
divisions  or  points  are  given:  righteousness,  temperance 
and  judgment.  He  uttered  not  a  word  concerning  himself, 
he  wasted  no  time  in  a  long  introduction,  but  he  came  right 
to  the  point  and  preached  straight  to  the  conscience  of  the 
man  before  him.  He  spoke  of  righteousness  to  this  wicked 
man ;  of  temperance  to  this  sensual  man ;  and  of  judgment 
to  come  to  this  godless  man.  It  was  a  pointed  and  search¬ 
ing  sermon,  and  such  preaching  will  be  heard  from. 

Felix  trembled  under  the  tremendous  indictment,  and 
then  dismissed  the  preacher  with  the  excuse  that  when  he 
had  a  convenient  season  he  would  call  him  again;  but  he 
never  did.  Two  years  rolled  by  with  Paul  still  in  prison 
when  Felix  passed  out  of  office  and  Festus  came  into  his 
place.  At  this  point  the  Jews  tried  to  have  Paul  returned 
to  Jerusalem,  where  they  had  a  better  chance  to  convict 
him  and  Festus  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to  go,  but  Paul 
prevented  this  procedure  by  exercising  his  right  as  a  Ro¬ 
man  citizen  of  appealing  unto  Caesar.  “Hast  thou  ap¬ 
pealed  unto  Caesar ?”  said  Festus;  “unto  Caesar  shalt 
thou  go.” 

The  new  governor,  having  Herod  Agrippa,  king  of  a 
petty  kingdom  lying  northeast  of  Galilee,  and  his  wife 
Bernice  (who  was  also  his  sister),  with  him  as  his  guests, 
mentioned  to  his  visitors  the  case  of  the  Jewish  prisoner 
left  on  his  hands,  and  Agrippa  expressed  a  desire  to  hear 
the  man  himself.  The  next  day  the  hearing  took  place  be¬ 
fore  the  governor,  the  royal  visitors  and  other  men  of  note, 
attended  with  great  pomp. 

Festus  introduced  Paul  with  a  brief  statement  of  the 
case  and  Agrippa  called  upon  Paul  to  speak.  Paul  rose 
and,  assuming  his  characteristic  attitude  with  uplifted 
hand,  delivered  his  defence  in  which  he  went  over  again 
the  chief  points  of  his  life.  At  one  point  in  his  impas¬ 
sioned  speech  Festus  interrupted  him  with  the  exclamation, 
“Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learning  doth  make 
thee  mad.” 

But  Paul  was  more  concerned  with  the  king  than  with 
the  governor  and  directed  his  remarks  to  Agrippa.  He 


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289 


appealed  to  him  as  a  Jew :  “  King  Agrippa,  believest  thou 
the  prophets  ?  I  know  that  thou  believest. 9  9  The  king  an¬ 
swered  him  to  the  effect  that  he  evidently  thought  he  was 
about  to  convert  the  king  “to  be  a  Christian.”  Paul, 
however,  expressed  the  passionate  wish  that  the  king  might 
become  altogether  such  as  he  himself  was,  with  one  noble 
and  thrilling  exception.  As  he  uttered  his  prayer  he 
lifted  his  hand  and,  as  the  chains  with  which  he  was  fet¬ 
tered  clanked,  added  the  significant  words,  “except  these 
bonds.”  The  scene  was  intensely  dramatic  and  pathetic 
and  was  enough  to  move  even  Romans  to  tears.  The  king, 
who  had  been  in  a  jesting  mood,  did  not  care  to  pursue 
the  subject  further  and  rose  to  retire,  followed  by  the  rest 
of  the  company. 

Paul,  however,  had  made  a  deep  impression,  for  in  dis¬ 
cussing  the  case  after  their  retirement  Agrippa  said  unto 
Festus,  “This  man  might  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he 
had  not  appealed  unto  Caesar.”  Paul  was  now  on  his 
way  to  Rome,  that  great  world  magnet  that  had  long  been 
drawing  him,  though  he  was  going  in  a  way  of  which  he 
had  never  dreamed. 

7.  Stormy  Voyage  and  Shipwreck 
Acts  27-28 : 16 

We  here  see  Paul  in  a  new  situation  in  which  he  dis¬ 
closes  unsuspected  capacities.  The  eloquent  preacher  and 
profound  philosopher  becomes  a  successful  weather  prophet 
and  able  shipmaster.  Put  him  in  any  situation  and  he  will 
grasp  it  with  a  firm  and  deft  hand.  He  had  a  rare  com¬ 
bination  of  genius  and  common  sense.  The  man  that  could 
deliver  a  masterly  address  to  Athenian  philosophers  and 
write  an  immortal  prose-poem  on  love  had  the  shrewd 
judgment  and  force  of  will  that  made  him  the  real  cap¬ 
tain  of  an  Alexandrian  corn  ship  and  pushed  him  into 
leadership  everywhere.  Religion  does  not  unfit  a  man  for 
business,  but  knits  up  all  his  powers  into*  unity  and  strength 
and  makes  him  a  man  among  men. 

The  appeal  to  Caesar,  which  could  not  be  reversed,  car¬ 
ried  Paul  to  Rome,  whither  he  had  long  been  planning  to 
go.  The  voyage  is  described  with  such  realistic  minuteness 


290 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


and  vividness  as  could  not  have  been  invented,  but  must 
be  the  pen-photograph  of  an  eyewitness.  Luke’s  history 
attests  its  trustworthiness  all  the  way  through  and  he 
was  aboard  this  ship  and  kept  something  like  a  diary  of 
what  happened.  We  have  a  narrative  of  wind  and  wave,, 
ship  and  storm,  freight  and  sail  and  rope,  that  in  every 
word  is  redolent  of  the  sea’s  salty  breath,  yet  it  is  sat¬ 
urated  with  religion  and  all  its  events  reflect  spiritual  les¬ 
sons.  The  sea  has  ever  been  a  favorite  symbol  of  life,  and 
its  surface  and  deeps,  placid  and  smiling  or  storm-swept 
and  foam-flecked,  mirror  the  varied  aspects  of  life ’s  voyage. 

Paul  with  other  prisoners  in  charge  of  a  centurion  to¬ 
gether  with  Luke  took  passage  on  a  coastal  vessel  at  Caes¬ 
area  and  at  Myra  took  an  Alexandrine  wheat  ship  bound 
for  Rome.  The  dangerous  season  of  navigation  was  near 
and  at  Fairhavens  on  the  southern  coast  of  Crete  Paul  ad¬ 
vised  the  centurion  to  lay  up  in  that  harbor,  but  the  cap¬ 
tain  and  the  owner  of  the  ship  decided  to  make  for  the 
next  port  where  they  would  have  more  roomy  quarters. 

Presently  what  Paul  had  expected  happened.  The  ter¬ 
rible  Euroclydon,  a  sudden  violent  wind  in  that  region, 
swept  down  off  the  steep  Cretan  mountains,  seven  thou¬ 
sand  feet  high,  and,  as  it  tore  across  the  sea,  lashing  it 
into  fury,  it  seized  the  boat  in  its  giant  fist  and  threatened 
instantly  to  crush  and  sink  it.  For  a  fearful  run  of  twenty 
miles  the  ship  drove  helplessly  before  the  gale.  The  storm 
continuing  unabated  and  danger  of  foundering  still  threat¬ 
ening,  the  crew  began  to  lighten  the  ship  by  throwing  over¬ 
board  freight  and  tackling,  though  saving  the  precious 
wheat  until  the  last  extremity,  when  it  also  had  to  go. 

Thus  amidst  intense  excitement  and  activity  on  board 
of  that  storm-struck  foundering  vessel,  everything  was 
done  that  could  be  done.  Modern  seamanship  approves  of 
every  measure  that  was  taken.  The  captain  of  the  Alex¬ 
andrine  wheat  ship  made  a  mistake  in  venturing  out  upon 
that  treacherous  sea  at  that  season,  but  he  handled  his  ves¬ 
sel  with  masterly  ability  after  he  was  caught  in  the  gale. 

There  was  one  man  at  least  on  that  ill-fated  ship  who 
stood  tall  and  strong  on  its  rolling,  wave-swept  deck.  ‘‘Paul 
stood  forth  in  the  midst  of  them.  ’  ’  What  strength  of  char¬ 
acter  and  purpose  is  indicated  in  these  words !  It  was  the 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


291 


prisoner  that  thus  stood  forth  in  the  midst  of  them  and 
they  all  gathered  around  him  to  receive  his  message;  the 
prisoner  was  now  the  central  figure  on  that  deck;  the 
captive  was  now  captain.  The  strong  man  will  always  come 
to  his  hour  and  rise  to  leadership. 

Paul  now  announced  to  the  panic-stricken  crew  and  pas¬ 
sengers  that  he  had  good  news  for  them.  He  had  received 
a  message  from  God  in  a  vision  in  which  he  was  assured 
that  all  on  board  the  ship  would  be  saved,  only  they  must 
first  be  cast  upon  an  island.  This  message  was  a  striking 
revelation  of  divine  sovereignty  and  foreordination.  God 
is  not  going  forward  blindly  and  working  at  haphazard, 
but  he  has  all  things  laid  out  and  put  together  in  his  eter¬ 
nal  plan.  This  news,  instead  of  releasing  them  from  their 
utmost  activity  in  managing  the  ship,  only  encouraged  and 
inspired  them  to  do  their  part  all  the  more  urgently. 

With  the  dawn  of  the  next  day  they  were  in  sight  of  land, 
but  could  not  tell  where  they  were.  The  imperfect  instru¬ 
ments  and  maps  and  seamanship  of  that  day  did  not  en¬ 
able  them  to  do  what  would  be  easy  in  our  day.  They  saw 
a  bay  with  a  shelving  shore,  and  their  plan  was  to  beach 
the  ship.  The  anchor  ropes  were  cut  and  the  foresail 
hoisted  and  the  ship  made  for  the  shore,  only  to  be  caught 
in  a  swirl  of  the  sea  and  run  aground.  Though  Paul  had 
announced  that  all  would  be  saved,  yet  they  used  and  had 
to  use  every  device  and  effort  of  seamanship  to  bring  the 
ship  ashore. 

The  soldiers,  answerable  with  their  own  lives  for  the 
safety  of  the  prisoners,  now  proposed  to  kill  Paul  and  his 
companions,  lest  they  would  swim  ashore  and  escape,  but 
the  centurion  interposed  on  Paul's  account,  and  his  pres¬ 
ence  saved  Paul's  life.  Orders  were  now  given  for  every 
one  to  make  land  for  himself,  and  some  swam  and  others 
floated  ashore  on  planks  and  other  things  from  the  ship, 
“and  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  they  escaped  all  safe  to 
land." 

This  is  the  most  notable  shipwreck  of  history.  Greater 
disasters  have  happened,  but  no  other  tale  of  the  sea  has 
been  studied  so  minutely  and  recounted  so  many  thousands 
of  times  and  has  entered  so  vitally  into  the  life  of  the  world : 
and  it  draws  its  fame  and  significance  from  the  single  fact 


292 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


that  one  of  the  prisoners  on  board  this  wrecked  ship  was  a 
missionary  of  Jesus  Christ.  Infinitely  the  most  important 
and  precious  freight  in  its  cargo  was  the  gospel  which  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  ships  still  carry  this 
gospel  over  every  sea  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Paul  spent  the  winter  in  Malta,  where  he  healed  Publius, 
the  Roman  governor  of  the  island,  and  wrought  other 
miracles,  and  in  the  spring  resumed  the  journey  and 
finally  arrived  in  Rome. 

8.  Paul  in  Rome 

Acts  28:16-31;  Philippians ;  Ephesians;  Colossians;  Phile¬ 
mon;  I  Timothy;  Titus;  II  Timothy 

In  Rome  at  last!  The  metropolis  of  the  world  with  its 
two  million  inhabitants  sat  on  its  seven  hills  and  bore  the 
proud  name  of  the  Eternal  City.  All  roads  ran  to  this 
center,  all  power  radiated  from  this  throne,  around  this 
hub  revolved  the  mighty  rim  of  the  world.  From  its  mar¬ 
ble  Forum,  the  very  ruins  of  which  are  still  an  attraction 
to  all  the  world,  stretched  in  every  direction  miles  of  pub¬ 
lic  buildings,  fashionable  residences,  splendid  avenues,  tri¬ 
umphal  arches,  magnificent  aqueducts,  intermingled  with 
slums  of  poverty  and  vice. 

All  the  world  had  been  taxed  and  robbed  to  enrich  this 
city.  Conquering  Caesars  came  back  from  every  land 
loaded  with  the  loot  of  cities  they  had  captured.  Marble 
Forum  and  Nero’s  Golden  House,  columned  temples  and 
vast  bathing  establishments  and  (later)  majestic  Colos¬ 
seum,  the  world  had  been  rifled  of  its  wealth  and  treasure 
that  this  immense  blossom  of  architecture  and  art  might 
bloom  out  upon  its  seven  hills.  Art  and  learning  were  al¬ 
ready  stealing  away  from  Athens  and  making  this  the 
university  city  of  the  world.  Every  ambitious  face  was 
set  towards  Rome.  This  powerful  magnet  drew  the  world ; 
the  Golden  Milestone  in  the  center  of  the  Forum  was  the 
axis  of  the  Roman  earth;  here  all  things  came  to  their 
culmination  and  grand  climax. 

Paul  had  long  felt  this  imperial  attraction.  Great  men 
inevitably  gravitate  to  great  cities  as  affording  the  proper 
field  for  their  faculties,  and  the  great  apostle  felt  and 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


293 


declared,  “I  also  must  see  Rome.”  At  last  he  had  ar¬ 
rived,  not  in  his  own  way,  but  in  God’s  way;  not  as  a 
free  traveler,  but  as  a  chained  prisoner. 

Paul  was  in  Rome,  living  in  his  own  hired  house,  but  a 
soldier  was  always  at  his  side  and  with  every  movement 
of  his  hand  his  chain  clanked.  Yet  he  was  incomparably 
the  greatest  and  most  important  man  in  that  city  beside 
whom  Nero  in  his  Golden  House  shrinks  into  insignificant 
worthlessness. 

His  bonds  could  not  bind  the  truth  he  preached,  but 
fell  “out  rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel.” 
This  man  had  some  subtle  and  potent  chemistry  by  which 
he  could  transmute  the  crudest  ore  and  coarsest  slag  into 
fine  gold.  In  his  prison-house  he  preached  to  soldiers  and 
thus  sent  the  gospel  up  into  the  very  palace  of  Caesar; 
and  he  wrote  letters  that  went  out  bearing  instruction 
and  inspiration  and  comfort  to  distant  points  and  passed 
into  the  Scriptures  and  are  today  circulating  in  the  spir¬ 
itual  life-blood  of  the  world. 

After  three  days  in  which  we  may  suppose  he  was 
resting  and  arranging  his  temporal  affairs  Paul  was  ready 
for  work.  The  prisoner  was  bound,  but  the  preacher  was 
free.  The  apostle  began  as  usual  with  the  Jews.  When 
they  were  assembled  Paul  made  a  brief  statement  of  his 
case.  In  every  such  statement  he  always  stood  on  and 
started  from  conservative  ground  and  so  he  put  in  the 
forefront  of  his  case  the  fact  that  lie  had  “committed 
nothing  against  the  people,  or  customs  of  our  fathers.” 
He  addressed  them  as  brethren  and  spoke  to  them  as  a 
loyal  Jew  and  thus  set  himself  before  them  in  a  favorable 
light.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  he  had  been  deliv¬ 
ered  a  prisoner  to  the  Romans,  who,  when  they  had  ex¬ 
amined  him,  found  no  cause  of  death  in  him  and  would 
have  released  him,  had  not  the  Jews  objected  and  thus 
forced  him  to  appeal  to  Caesar. 

The  appeal  to  Caesar,  however,  bore  a  suspicious  look 
to  Jews,  implying  treachery  to  his  own  country,  and  Paul 
was  careful  to  explain  that  he  had  no  charge  against  his 
nation.  For  this  reason  he  had  entreated  them  to  see 
and  hear  him ;  and  he  concluded  with  the  declaration  that 
“for  the  hope  of  Israel  I  am  bound  with  this  chain.” 


294 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


The  Jews  answered  that  they  had  received  no  letters 
or  reports  against  him,  but  that  they  desired  to  hear  him : 
“for  as  concerning  this  sect,  we  know  that  everywhere 
it  is  spoken  against.  ’ ’  This  shows  that  already  Christianity 
had  got  into  the  general  news  of  the  world  and  report 
represented  it  as  something  scandalous.  It  was  a  “sect” 
of  the  Jews,  which  was  bad  enough,  and  Christians  were 
declared  to  be  “the  enemies  of  mankind/ ’  and  were 
charged  with  worshiping  a  crucified  ass,  and  drinking 
the  blood  of  slain  infants  at  their  religious  feast.  Rome 
rang  with  these  reports,  and  several  years  later  when 
Nero,  to  shield  himself,  charged  them  with  having  set 
fire  to  the  city,  the  infuriated  populace  saw  Christians 
thrown  to  wild  beasts  in  the  arena  and  burned  as  torches 
in  Nero’s  gardens  with  shouts  of  frenzied  delight.  It  cost 
a  great  price  to  be  a  Christian  in  that  day. 

A  day  was  now  set  for  a  more  extended  hearing,  and 
at  the  appointed  time  the  Jews  were  present  in  Paul’s 
house  in  large  numbers.  The  apostle  preached  an  all-day 
sermon  in  which  he  expounded  the  kingdom  of  God,  quot¬ 
ing  Moses,  with  the  result  that  “some  believed  the  things 
that  were  spoken,  and  some  believed  not.”  It  is  an  honest 
record  and  an  honest  book  that  writes  this  result  down. 
When  these  Jews  had  finally  rejected  the  gospel  Paul  pro¬ 
nounced  judgment  upon  them  and  turned  to  the  Gentiles, 
‘  *  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things 
which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  confidence, 
no  man  forbidding  him.” 

These  closing  words  in  Luke’s  biography  of  Paul  are 
true  to  the  great  apostle  in  every  syllable  and  accent,  and 
sum  up  his  life  from  the  hour  when  he  fell  under  the 
spell  of  Christ’s  presence  and  power  near  Damascus  to 
the  hour  when  he  fell  under  the  executioner’s  sword  at 
Rome. 

Two  years  he  dwelt  in  his  own  hired  house  and  received 
all  that  went  in  unto  him.  During  this  time  he  was  inter¬ 
ested  in  and  in  touch  with  many  of  his  friends  land 
churches,  writing  the  letters  to  the  Philippians,  who  greatly 
cheered  him  by  sending  him  a  gift  (Phil.  4:18),  and 
to  the  Ephesians  and  the  Colossians  and  to  Philemon,  in 
which  “Paul  the  aged”  pours  out  his  ripened  instruction 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  295 

and  tenderest  affection  and  his  mystic  moods  and  deepest 
theology. 

The  strennons  period  of  battle,  which  he  opened  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians  in  which  he  fought  for  liberty  in 
the  gospel,  has  calmed  down  into  the  quiet  and  serenity 
of  the  evening  time.  He  had  fought  the  good  fight  of 
faith  and  won  it.  His  thoughts  turned  to  the  deeper 
things  of  the  spirit,  especially  to  the  cosmic  Christ  by 
whom  “all  things  consist’ ’  (Col.  1:16-17),  the  immanent 
principle  of  the  universe.  These  last  letters  are  among 
the  most  precious  portions  of  the  New  Testament. 

Luke  closes  his  biography  of  Paul  at  this  point,  and  the 
best  explanation  of  this  fact  is  that  he  wrote  his  book 
while  Paul  was  still  in  prison  and  he  knew  no  more.  Tra¬ 
dition,  as  we  have  seen,  releases  the  great  apostle  from 
this  first  imprisonment  to  go  out  on  further  missionary 
service,  during  which  he  wrote  I  Timothy  and  Titus,  and 
then  brings  him  back  a  few  years  later  for  final  impris¬ 
onment  and  death,  at  which  time  he  wrote  II  Timothy, 
the  last  letter  we  have  from  his  hand. 

This  letter  is  especially  tender  and  earnest  and  rings 
with  a  victorious  note  as  the  grand  old  veteran  declares, 
“I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 
I  have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me 
a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous 
judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day:  and  not  to  me  only,  but 
unto  all  them  also  that  love  his  appearing.”  How  fitting 
and  eloquent  are  these  final  words  of  Paul. 

Yet  Paul  the  aged  has  not  lost  interest  in  life.  Affec¬ 
tion  is  running  deep  in  his  soul  and  in  his  loneliness  he 
yearns  for  the  fellowship  and  love  of  his  closest  friends. 
Pathetically  he  records  the  fact  that  “only  Luke  is  with 
me,  ’  ’  and  he  bids  Timothy  to  ‘  ‘  Take  Mark,  and  bring  him 
with  thee:  for  he  is  profitable  to  me  for  the  ministry,”  a 
pleasant  record  as  showing  that  the  wound  of  the  former 
separation  was  healed.  He  does  not  think  he  is  done  with 
service,  for  he  wants  Timothy  to  bring  “the  cloke  I  left 
at  Troas  with  Carpus, 7  7  and  also  ‘  ‘  the  books,  but  especially 
the  parchments.”  Busy  student  and  scholar  and  worker 
he  was  to  the  last,  and  how  we  would  prize  them  if  we 
could  recover  some  of  those  books  and  parchments! 


296 


THE  MAKING  AND  MEANING 


Some  of  the  old  fire  also  flashes  out  of  him,  for  he  re¬ 
members  that  “Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved 
this  present  world, ”  and  he  pays  his  respects  to  “Alex¬ 
ander  the  coppersmith,”  declaring  that  “he  did  me  much 
evil  ”  or  “  has  done  me  a  lot  of  harm  ” :  “  the  Lord  reward 
him  according  to  his  works.”  These  personal  notes  show 
how  human  he  was  to  the  last. 

The  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  was  the  last  writing 
from  Paul’s  pen.  He  could  calmly  write,  “I  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at 
hand.”  The  swift  stroke  of  an  executioner’s  sword,  prob¬ 
ably  in  the  Neronian  persecution  of  64  A.  D.  and  cer¬ 
tainly  before  the  death  of  Nero  in  68  A.  D.,  ended  his  life, 
his  work  as  far  as  inspired  history  records  it  is  finished, 
and  the  greatest  man  in  the  New  Testament  and  the  great¬ 
est  leader  since  Moses  passes  from  our  view.  But  of 
hardly  any  other  human  being  is  it  so  grandly  true  that 
“he  being  dead  yet  speaketh.” 

We  have  concluded  our  study  of  the  Making  and  Mean¬ 
ing  of  the  New  Testament:  Its  Background,  Books  and 
Biographies;  its  principal  facts  and  features,  cities  and 
centers,  program  and  personalities,  origins  and  expansion 
of  the  gospel  as  traced  in  its  pages,  its  truth  and  teach¬ 
ing  and  application  for  us,  its  words  that  are  immortal 
spirit  and  life,  its  imperishable  beauty  and  its  transcen¬ 
dent  blessings;  and  central  and  supreme  in  it  as  its  chief 
value  and  vitality  and  glory  its  Master  and  Lord  in  whom 
all  its  rays  converge  and  concenter  as  the  express  image 
and  brightness  of  God  and  from  whom  they  all  issue 
as  the  Light  of  the  World. 

The  study  has  surely  caused  the  book  to  grow  upon 
our  understanding  and  appreciation  until  we  realize  it 
is  beyond  rival  the  greatest  book  in  the  world,  incompar¬ 
ably  the  supreme  literary  treasure  of  the  race.  No  one 
can  afford  to  be  ignorant  of  it  even  as  a  means  of  educa¬ 
tion  and  culture.  In  our  translation  it  is  the  noblest 
literary  monument  in  the  English  language.  “Western 
civilization/’  says  William  Lyon  Phelps,  Professor  of  Eng¬ 
lish  Language  in  Yale  University,  “is  founded  upon  the 
Bible;  our  ideas,  our  wisdom,  our  philosophy,  our  liter- 


OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  297 

ature,  our  art,  our  ideals,  come  more  from  the  Bible  than 
from  all  other  books  put  together.” 

This  is  especially  true  of  the  New  Testament.  Its  his¬ 
tory  and  varied  literature  in  Gospels  and  Acts  and  Epis¬ 
tles  and  panoramic  Apocalypse,  its  stories  and  parables 
and  prose-poems,  its  thrilling  scenes  and  dramatic  mo¬ 
ments,  its  picturesque  views  and  uplifting  visions,  its 
lucid  streams  and  profound  deeps,  its  vitalizing  breath  and 
victorious  spirit,  its  great  messages  of  salvation  and  hope, 
and  withal  the  simplicity  and  charm  and  music  and  majesty 
of  its  style  make  it  an  education  to  the  mind,  culture  to 
the  heart,  bread  to  the  soul  and  victory  to  the  spirit. 

It  is  these  contents  and  characteristics  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  that  prove  it  to  be  “  inspired  of  God  and  profitable 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction 
in  righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.”  The  stu¬ 
dents  that  read,  mark  and  assimilate  this  book  will  find 
that  it  will  strengthen  and  enrich  their  souls  and  enable 
them  to  live  a  great  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

Dear  Lord  and  Father  of  mankind, 

Forgive  our  foolish  ways; 

Reclothe  us  in  our  rightful  mind, 

In  purer  lives  thy  service  find, 

In  deeper  reverence,  praise. 

In  simple  trust  like  theirs  who  heard, 

Beside  the  Syrian  sea, 

The  gracious  calling  of  the  Lord, 

Let  us,  like  them,  without  a  word 
Rise  up  and  follow  thee. 


— Whittier. 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURES 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Gen  1  ‘1 

v«  Vil»  JL  «x  •  •«•••»•• 

•  ••••»•••  HT 

Matt. 

12:15-21  . 

Ex.  12:1-27  . 

.  15 

Matt. 

13:1-53  . 

. 184 

Ex.  23:12  . 

. 168 

Matt. 

13 :55  . 

. 104 

Ex.  29:38-46  . 

.  15 

Matt. 

14:1-12  . 

. 190 

Lev.  1:2-3  . 

.  15 

Matt. 

14:13-23  . 

. 192 

Lev.  4 :1-12  . 

. 15 

Matt. 

15:1-20  . 

. 195 

Lev.  5  :l-6  . 

.  15 

Matt. 

16:13-20  . 

. 198 

Lev.  13—14  . 

. 164 

Matt. 

18 :1-14  . 

. 208 

Lev.  16:5-15  . 

.  15 

Matt.  21 :1-11 . 

. 212 

Job  36:10  . 

. 220 

Matt. 

22:16  . 

.  20 

Ps.  22  :18  . 

. 228 

Matt. 

23:4-17  . 

.  17 

Pa.  68:11  . 

. 278 

Matt. 

26:6-13  . 

. 208 

Ps.  81:10  . 

. 180 

Matt. 

26:17-36  . 

. 217 

Isaiah  1 :1-18  . . . . 

. 183 

Matt. 

26:36-46  . 

. 221 

Isaiah  9  :l-2  . 

.  63 

Matt. 

26:57—27:31  ... 

. 223 

Matt.  1 :1-17  . . . . . 

. 117 

Matt. 

27:32-56  . 

. 227 

Matt.  1:18-25  .... 

. 118 

Matt. 

28:16-20  . 

. 233 

Matt.  2:1-12  . 

. 123 

Matt. 

28:18-20  . 

.  63 

Matt.  2:23  . 

. 125 

Mark 

1:1-8  . 

. 131 

Matt.  3:1-12  . 

. 131 

Mark 

1:9-11  . 

. 133 

Matt.  3:7-12  . 

.  49 

Mark 

1-12-13  . 

. 134 

Matt.  3:13-17  _ 

. 133 

Mark 

1:14-15  . 

. 152 

Matt.  4:1-11  . 

. 134 

Mark 

1:16-20  . 

Matt.  4  :l-22  . 

. 170 

Mark 

1:35-45  . 

. 162 

Matt.  4:3-10  . 

. 49 

Mark 

1:21  . 

. 63 

Matt.  4  :14  . 

.  63 

Mark 

2:1-12  . 

. 164 

Matt.  4  :18-22  . . . . 

. 156 

Mark 

2:21-34  . 

. 158 

Matt.  4:23  . 

. 162 

Mark 

3:7  . 

.  63 

Matt.  4  :25  . 

. 23 

Mark  3  :13-19  . 

..... 169 

Matt.  5-7  . 

.  49 

Mark 

4  :l-34  . 

. 1S4 

Matt.  5:1-12  . 

. .172 

Mark 

4 :35-41  . 

. 187 

Matt.  5:17  . 

.  63 

Mark 

5:25-34  . 

.  67 

Matt.  6 :5-15  . 

. 175 

Mark 

6:3  . 

. 129 

Matt.  8:5-13  . 

. 178 

Mark 

6 :14-29  . 

. 190 

Matt.  8 : 14-17  . . . . 

. 158 

Mark 

6:30-46  . 

. 192 

Matt.  8  : 23-27  . . .  . 

. 187 

Mark 

7  :l-23  . 

. 195 

Matt.  9:1-8  . 

. 164 

Mark 

7:13  . 

.  17 

Matt.  9  :9  . 

.  62 

Mark 

8:27-30  . 

. 198 

Matt.  10:2-4  . 

. 169 

Mark 

9:2-13  . 

. 201 

Matt.  11:2-19  .... 

. 180 

Mark  10:46-52  . 

. 208 

299 


300  INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURES 


PAGE 

Mark  11:1-11  . 212 

Mark  14:3-9  . 208 

Mark  14:22-26  . 217 

Mark  14:32-42  . 221 

Mark  14  :53— 15  :20  223 

Mark  15:21-41  . 227 

Luke  1:1-4  . 70-72 

Luke  1:26-38  . 118 

Luke  1:28  . 119 

Luke  2:8-20  . 121 

Luke  2:39-52  125 

Luke  3:1-20 . 131 

Luke  3  :7-9  . 49 

Luke  3:21-22  . 133 

Luke  3:23-38  . 117 

Luke  4:1-13 . 134 

Luke  4:1-18  . 184 

Luke  4  :3-13 .  49 

Luke  4  :16-30 . 153 

Luke  4  :22  .  70 

Luke  4:31-41 . 158 

Luke  4 :38  .  70 

Luke  4  :42-44  . 162 

Luke  5:1-11 . 156 

Luke  5 :12  .  70 

Luke  5:17-26 . 164 

Luke  6:12-19  . 169 

Luke  6:20-23  . 172 

Luke  6:20-49  .  49 

Luke  7:10  . 178 

Luke  7  :12  .  70 

Luke  7:18-35 . 180 

Luke  8:22-25  . 187 

Luke  9:7-9 . 190 

Luke  9:10-17 . 192 

Luke  9:18-22  . 198 

Luke  9:28-36  . 201 

Luke  9  :3S  .  70 

Luke  9  :51— 18 :14  .  72 

Luke  9:54  . 254 

Luke  10:1-24  . 208 

Luke  10:38-42  . 208 

Luke  11— IS  :8  .  50 

Luke  17:11-19 . 208 

Luke  18:18-23  . 208 

Luke  19:1-10 . 208 

Luke  19:29-44  . 212 

Luke  22:7-30  . 217 

Luke  22:39-46  . 221 

Luke  22  :54— 23  :25  . 223 


PAGE 

Luke  23:26-49  . 227 

Luke  24:50-53  . 236 

John  1 :1-18  . 74 

John  1 :4 . 117 

John  1:35-51  . 137,  170 

John  2:1-11  . 141 

John  2  :13 .  59 

John  2:13-22  . 143 

John  3:16  . 75,  148 

John  3:1-21  . 146 

John  4:4-26  . 148 

John  4:21  . 250 

John  4  :24 .  75 

John  4:46-54  . 153 

John  5:1 . 59 

John  5:1-47  . 167 

John  5:12-16  . 162 

John  6:1-15  . 192 

John  6 :4 . . .  59 

John  9:1-41  . . 205 

John  11:1-46  . 208 

John  12 :1 . 59 

John  12:1-11  . 208 

John  12:20  .  25 

John  12 :20-22  .  24 

John  12:20-36  . 215 

John  13:1-30  . 217 

John  14  :26 .  78 

John  16:12-15  . 251 

John  18:1  . 221 

John  18:12—19:16  . 223 

John  19:16-37  . 227 

John  20:21  .  73 

John  20:31 .  74 

John  21 :24 .  73 

Acts  1 :1  .  70 

Acts  1  :l-2  .  77 

Acts  1:8  .  77 

Acts  2:1-47  . 245 

Acts  4:20  . 248 

Acts  5:29  . 248 

Acts  6 :1  .  24 

Acts  6—7  248 

Acts  6:16  . 93 

Acts  8:1-25  . 253 

Acts  9:1-22  . 257 

Acts  9:1-31  . 256 

Acts  9  :29  .  24 

Acts  9:26-27  . 268 

Acts  10:1-48  . 260 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURES  301 


PAGE 

Acts  11:1-18  . 263 

Acts  11:19-30  . 265 

Acts  11:27-30  . 83,  274 

Acts  11:30  .  87 

Acts  12 :12  .  66 

Acts  13—14  . 269 

Acts  13:15-41  . 272 

Acts  15:1-29  . 273 

Acts  15:1-31  . 87,  274 

Acts  15:30—17:13  . 276 

Acts  16:4  .  87 

Acts  16:10  . 69,  277 

Acts  16:10-18  .  69 

Acts  16:11-40  .  89 

Acts  17:1-9  . 91 

Acts  17:15—18:18  . 280 

Acts  18:5  . 91,  282 

Acts  18:23—20:3  . 283 

Acts  19 :1-41  .  8S 

Acts  20 :5-16  .  69 

Acts  21 :1-18  .  69 

Acts  21:16—26:32  . 286 

Acts  22:1-21  . 256,  257 

Acts  23  :8  . 19 

Acts  26:1-23  . 256,  257 

Acts  27—28:16  . 69,  289 

Acts  28:16-31  . 292 

Rom.  3:25  .  26 

Rom.  16 :1  .  84 

I  Cor.  3:21-22  .  27 

I  Cor.  5:9  .  85 

I  Cor.  6:9-11  . 282 

I  Cor.  11:23-26  . 217 

I  Cor.  13:1-13 .  83 

I  Cor.  15:6  . 232 

I  Cor.  15:1-20 .  58 

I  Cor.  15:1-58  . 230 

II  Cor.  2:12-13  .  85 

II  Cor.  7:8-9 .  85 

II  Cor.  10—13  .  86 

II  Cor.  11:23-28  .  97 

Gal.  1—6  . 269 

Gal.  1:2  .  86 

Gal.  1:6  .  86 

Gal.  1:6-7 . 274 

Gal.  1:7  .  87 

Gal.  1:11-12 .  87 

Gal.  1:12  . 99 

Gal.  1:18  . 232 

Gal.  2:1  .  83 


PAGF 

Gal.  2:1-21 .  87 

Gal.  2:4  . 273 

Gal.  2:12  . 275 

Eph.  1—6  . 292 

Eph.  1 :1  .  88 

Eph.  1 :15 .  88 

Eph.  3 :2-4  .  88 

Eph.  6:21 .  90 

Phil.  1 — 1  . 292 

Phil.  1:13 .  89 

Phil.  2:24 . 89 

Phil.  2:25-30  .  89 

Phil.  4  :18  . 294 

Phil.  4 :22  .  89 

Col.  1—4  . 292 

Col.  1:15-19  . 90 

Col.  1:16-17  . 295 

Col.  2:8,  18  .  90 

Col.  2  :9 .  90 

Col.  2:10-17 .  90 

Col.  2:16-17  .  90 

Col.  2:20-23  .  90 

Col.  3:10-11  .  90 

Col.  4:7  .  90 

Col.  4:9  .  90 

Col.  4:10  . 271 

Col.  4:14  .  69 

I  Thess.  1 — 5  . 280 

I  Thess.  1 :8  .  91 

I  Thess.  4:13-18  . 91,  282 

II  Thess,  1—3  . 280 

II  Thess.  2  :1 — 12  .  91 

II  Thess.  3:10  . 130 

I  Tim.  1 — 6 . 292 

I  Tim.  1 :3 . 92 

I  Tim.  1 :4-8  .  92 

I  Tim.  4:3  .  92 

I  Tim.  6 :20 .  92 

II  Tim.  1 — 4  . 292 

II  Tim.  2:1-26  .  93 

II  Tim.  4:6-8  .  93 

II  Tim.  4 :9-15  .  93 

II  Tim.  4:11  .  69 

Titus  1—3  . 292 

Philemon  1:1-25  . 292 

Heb.  1:1-4  . 100 

Heb.  1 :9  . 240 

Heb.  2:3 .  99 

Heb.  10:1-2  . 100 

James  2:14-26  . 101 


302 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURES 


PAGE 

I  Pet.  1:2-5  . 200 


I  Pet.  1:7  . 102 

I  Pet.  1:16  . 103 

I  Pet.  2:6  . 103 

I  Pet.  4:12-19  . 102 

I  Pet.  5:13  . 102 

II  Pet.  2:1-22  . 104 

II  Pet.  3:1  . 103 


PAGE 

(II  Pet.  3:15-16  . 103 

I  John  1:1  . 42,  103 

I  John  1:5  . 75,  104 

I  John  4:8 . 104 

I  John  4:24  . 75 

Jude  1:4-16  104 

Jude  1:9  . 105 

Judge  1:14  . 105 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Aaron,  194. 

Acquila,  281 

Acrocorinthus,  The,  281. 

Acts,  The,  date  of,  54;  author¬ 
ship  of,  77 ;  purpose  and  char¬ 
acteristics,  77-79;  omissions 
in,  79-80 ;  continuation  of  the 
Gospels,  243-244;  accuracy  of, 
272,  290. 

Aeschylus,  22. 

Alexander,  the  coppersmith,  296. 

Alexander,  the  Great,  8,  23. 

Alexander,  26,  266. 

Amos,  8. 

Andrew,  the  disciple,  called  to 
follow  Jesus,  138 ;  156,  194, 
215. 

Annas,  223. 

Annanias,  249. 

Antioch,  the  gospel  in,  265-268, 
270,  272,  273,  274,  276,  283. 

Antioch,  in  Pisidia,  272. 

Antiochus,  Epiphanes,  105. 

Antonia,  Tower  of,  287. 

Apocalypses,  Jewish  books,  20- 
21 ;  in  the  Bible,  105. 

Arabia,  259. 

Army,  The  Salvation,  267. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  quoted,  36. 

Ascension,  of  Jesus,  236-240. 

Assyrians,  18. 

Athens,  91,  280-281. 

Augustine,  108. 

Background,  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  Jewish,  1-21 ;  Greek, 
22-28 ;  Roman,  29-36. 

Babylon,  VIII,  2,  8. 

Baptism,  of  Jesus,  133-134; 
meaning  of  the  ordinance, 
133. 


Bar-jesus,  sorcerer,  271. 

Barnabas,  at  Antioch,  267-268; 
with  Paul  on  first  journey, 
269-272 ;  at  Second  Council  in 
Jerusalem,  273-276 ;  goes  with 
Mark  on  missionary  journey, 
276. 

Barnabas,  Epistle  of,  107. 

Bartimaeus,  208. 

Beatitudes,  The,  172-175. 

Bede,  The  Venerable,  110. 

Beethoven,  124. 

Berea,  91,  279-280. 

Bernice,  wife  of  Agrippa,  288. 

Bethany,  208,  212,  217,  237. 

Bethesda,  pool  of,  167. 

Bethlehem,  5 ;  Jesus  born  at, 
120-121. 

Bible,  greatest  book  in  the 
world,  VIII ;  canon  of,  107- 
108 ;  Roman  Catholic,  108, 
110 ;  translations  of,  109-111 ; 
a  book  of  principles,  238. 

Birth,  virgin,  of  Jesus,  119-120. 

Caesar,  Augustus,  21,  120. 

Caesar,  Julius,  115,  277. 

Caesarea,  5;  Peter  at,  260-261; 
Paul  at,  287-289,  290. 

Caesarea,  Philippi,  198-201. 

Caiaphas,  223. 

Calvary,  201,  227. 

Cana,  of  Galilee,  miracle  at, 
141-143;  nobleman’s  son  heal¬ 
ed,  153. 

Canon,  of  the  New  Testament, 
43,  107-108 ;  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  108. 

Capernaum,  5 ;  headquarters  of 
Jesus,  156 ;  a  busy  day  in, 
158-161. 


303 


304 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Carlyle,  quoted,  130,  160. 

Caro,  Cardinal,  109. 

Carpenter,  Jesus  the,  129-130. 

Carpus,  295. 

Carthage,  Synod  of,  108. 

Christ,  Jesus,  outline  of  events 
of  life  of,  59-61;  and  Chris¬ 
tendom,  116;  life  of,  117-240; 
the  thirty  “silent  years,”  117- 
130  ;  genealogy  of,  117-118;  his 
humanity,  118;  virgin  birth 
of,  119-120 ;  birth  in  Bethle¬ 
hem,  120-121;  angels  and 
shepherds  at  his  birth,  121- 
123;  worshiping  Wise  Men, 
123-125 ;  childhood  and  boy¬ 
hood,  125-129;  the  carpenter, 
129-130;  baptism  of,  133-134; 
temptation  of,  134-137 ;  start¬ 
ing  his  kingdom,  137-141 ; 
first  miracle,  141-143 ;  first 
cleansing  of  the  temple,  143- 
146;  interview  with  Nieo- 
demus,  146-148;  conversation 
with  woman  of  Samaria,  148- 
150 ;  preaches  at  Nazareth, 
153-156;  headquarters  at  Ca¬ 
pernaum,  156-158 ;  a  busy  day 
in  Capernaum,  158-161;  mis¬ 
sionary  tour  through  Galilee, 
162-164 ;  strange  things  in  Ca¬ 
pernaum,  164-166;  at  pool  of 
Bethesda,  167-169 ;  choosing 
and  mission  of  his  twelve 
disciples,  169-172 ;  the  Ser¬ 
mon  on  the  Mount,  172-178; 
the  Lord’s  Prayer,  175-178 ; 
heals  a  centurion’s  servants, 
178-180;  how  he  dealt  with 
John’s  doubt,  180-184;  his 
parables,  184-187 ;  stills  a 
gtorm  on  Galilee,  187-189; 
feeding  the  five  thousand,  192- 
195 ;  breaks  with  the  Phari¬ 
sees,  195-198;  with  the  disci¬ 
ples  at  Caesarea  Philippi,  198- 
201 ;  his  transfiguration,  201- 
204 ;  healing  the  man  born 
blind,  205-208 ;  at  the  home  of 
Martha  and  Mary,  208-210 ; 
at  Simon’s  table,  210-211;  the 


triumphal  entry,  212-214;  cer¬ 
tain  Greeks,  215-217 ;  institu¬ 
tion  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  217- 
220 ;  in  Gethsemane,  221-223 ; 
the  trial,  223-226;  the  cruci¬ 
fixion,  227-230;  the  resurrec¬ 
tion,  230-233 ;  his  Great  Com¬ 
mission,  233-236 ;  his  ascen¬ 
sion,  236-240;  contrasted  with 
Paul,  256. 

Christian,  the  name  first  given 
at  Antioch,  268. 

Christianity,  an  historical  reli¬ 
gion,  41 ;  struggle  for  free¬ 
dom  from  Judaism,  82,  87-88, 
100-101,  244,  250-251,  253,  263- 
265,  273-276;  a  rational 

religion,  188;  universal  re¬ 
ligion,  235 ;  starts  on  its 
world-wide  march,  243-244;  a 
“sect”  in  the  Roman  Empire, 
294. 

Chronology,  of  the  Gospels,  53- 
54 ;  of  the  birth  and  life  of 
Jesus,  59;  of  Paul’s  life  and 
letters,  83-84. 

Church,  The,  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus,  152 ;  the  means  of  spir¬ 
itual  life,  159 ;  it  may  be 
wrong,  166 ;  the  Rock  on  which 
it  is  built,  199,  200;  in  Jeru¬ 
salem,  245-248,  286;  struggle 
against  Judaism,  263-265,  273- 
276. 

Cicero,  quoted,  24 ;  187. 

Claudius,  Emperor,  281. 

Clement,  of  Rome,  Second  Epis¬ 
tle  of,  107. 

Codex,  Sinaiticus,  108-109. 

Colosse,  90,  94. 

Colosseum,  The,  29-30,  292. 

Colossians,  Epistle  to,  80,  84, 
date,  occasion  and  contents, 
90,  96,  294,  295. 

Columbus,  124. 

Communism,  of  early  church  in 
Jerusalem,  247-248. 

Controversy,  place  of,  in  the 
church,  265,  275. 

Conversion,  nature  of,  132,  152, 
247;  of  Paul,  257-260;  of  Ly- 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  305 


dia,  278 ;  of  the  Philippian 
jailer,  279. 

Copernicus,  27. 

Corinth,  91,  281-282. 

Corinthians,  I  and  II  Epistles 
to,  SO,  84,  dates,  occasions  and 
contents,  85-86;  2S5-2S6. 

Cornelius,  and  Peter,  260-262. 

Council,  First  at  Jerusalem,  263- 
265;  Second  at  Jerusalem,  87, 
273-276. 

Coverdale,  110. 

Crete,  94,  290. 

Crispus,  282. 

Cross,  The,  first  revealed,  200; 
the  principle  of,  217 ;  on  Cal¬ 
vary,  227-230;  meaning  of, 
230. 

Crucifixion,  of,  Jesus,  227-230. 

Crusades,  8. 

Cyprus,  266,  267,  270. 

Cyrene,  266. 

Damaris,  281. 

Damascus,  258,  259. 

Daniel,  Book  of,  105. 

Daphne,  grove  of,  266. 

David,  194. 

Deacons,  appointed,  249. 

Decapolis,  23,  198. 

Dedication,  feast  of,  17. 

Deissmann,  Adolf,  26. 

Demas,  296. 

Demetrius,  Ephesian  silver¬ 
smith,  284-285. 

Demosthenes,  22,  115. 

Derbe,  272,  276. 

Diana,  worship  of,  at  Ephesus, 
283-286. 

Diatessaron,  Tatian’s,  108. 

Didache,  of  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
107. 

Dionysius,  281. 

Drusilla,  wife  of  Felix,  287. 

Domitian,  Emperor,  105. 

Doubt,  how  to  treat  religious, 
ISO-184. 

Ecclesiastes,  Book  of,  108. 

Ecclesiastics,  rarely  the  first  to 
receive  new  truth,  121-122; 


often  have  been  misguided, 
166. 

Egypt,  2,  7,  125. 

Elijah,  8,  190;  at  the  transfigu¬ 
ration,  202. 

Elisha,  8. 

Elizabeth,  119. 

Emmaus,  231. 

Empire,  Roman,  division  of,  8, 
extent  of,  30-31 ;  its  pagan  re¬ 
ligions,  31-33 ;  its  despair,  36  ; 
Christianity  in,  243-244. 

Enoch,  Book  of,  105. 

Entry,  The  triumphal,  212-214. 
Epaphroditus,  89. 

Ephesians,  Epistle  to,  80;  date, 
occasions  aiijd  contents,  S8- 
89 ;  294. 

Ephesus,  88,  282,  283-286. 
Epistles,  Catholic,  99-105. 
Epistles,  Paul’s,  S0-98 ;  circum¬ 
stances,  characteristics  and 
contents  of,  81-95 ;  review  of, 

95- 98 ;  progression  of  ideas  in, 

96- 97. 

Esdraelon,  plain  of,  4,  126. 
Essenes,  Jewish  religious  party, 
19. 

Esther,  Book  of,  108. 

Euripides,  22. 

Euroclydon,  The,  290. 

Eusebius,  62,  quoted,  63. 

Ezra,  8. 

Fairhavens,  290. 

Farrar,  F.  W.,  quoted,  79. 
Feasts,  Jewish,  17-18 ;  the  four 
visits  of  Jesus  to,  59. 

Felix,  governor  of  Judea,  287- 
288. 

Festus,  successor  of  Felix,  288. 
Fiske,  John,  quoted,  248. 

Forum,  The  Roman,  292. 

Galatia,  272,  283. 

Galatians,  Epistle  to,  80,  84; 
date,  occasion  and  contents, 
86-88,  96,  259,  272,  274,  295. 
Galilee,  district  of,  15. 

Galilee,  Lake,  4,  5,  126;  fishing 


306 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


on,  157-158 ;  a  storm  on,  187- 
189. 

Genius,  tlie  Hebrew,  9-11 ;  the 
Greek,  22-23 ;  the  Roman,  30- 
31. 

Gentiles,  their  admission  to  the 
Christian  church,  203-2G5 ; 
273-276. 

Getlisemane,  221-223. 

Gnosticism,  93. 

Gods,  mythological,  31-32. 

Golgotha,  227. 

Gospels,  The  Four,  general 
characteristics  of,  44-00;  his¬ 
toricity  of,  44-47 ;  interrela¬ 
tion  of,  47-49 ;  can  they  be 
harmonized,  50-53;  dates  of, 
53-54;  why  four?  55-56;  their 
different  points  of  view,  55- 
56;  miracles  in,  56-59. 

Government,  church  develop¬ 
ment  of,  249. 

Greece,  VIII. 

Greeks,  the  people,  22 ;  their  ge¬ 
nius,  23 ;  spread  of  their  civ¬ 
ilization,  23-24 ;  their  lan¬ 
guage,  24;  certain  ones  desir¬ 
ing  to  see  Jesus,  215-217. 

Harnack,  on  date  of  the  Acts, 
54;  on  dates  in  the  life  of 
Paul,  S3. 

Ileadlam,  Arthur  C.,  quoted,  46- 
47. 

Hebrews,  Epistle  to,  98,  date, 
authorship,  purpose  and  con¬ 
tents,  100-101,  108. 

Hermas,  Shepherd  of,  107. 

Hermon,  Mount,  4,  201. 

Herod,  Agrippa,  288-289. 

Herod,  Antipas,  14 ;  190-192. 

Herod,  the  Great,  14,  59. 

Herod,  Archelaus,  14,  125. 

Herod,  Philip,  14,  190. 

Herodians,  Jewish  party,  20. 

Ilerodias,  wife  of  Herod  Anti¬ 
pas,  190-192. 

Herodotus,  78. 

Historicity,  of  the  Gospels,  44- 
47 ;  of  miracles,  56-59 ;  of  the 
Acts,  272,  290. 


Horner,  Francis,  202. 

Hospital,  The,  an  annex  of  the 
church,  171. 

Hugo,  Victor,  quoted,  202. 


Iconium,  272,  276. 

Immortality,  203. 

lrenaeus,  quoted,  69,  73. 

Isaiah,  8. 

James,  brother  of  the  Lord,  87, 
at  the  Second  Council  in  Je¬ 
rusalem,  275 ;  author  of  the 
Epistle,  101-102. 

James,  the  disciple,  called  to 
follow  Jesus,  156 ;  at  the 
transfiguration,  201 ;  221 ;  231. 

James,  Epistle  of,  99,  author¬ 
ship,  purpose  and  contents, 
101-102,  108. 

Jeremiah,  8. 

Jerusalem,  capital  of  Judea,  15 ; 
condition  in  time  of  Christ, 
143-144;  university  city,  170; 
why  Jesus  wept  over  it,  212- 
214;  First  Christian  Council 
at,  263-265. 

Jesus,  See  Christ. 

Jews,  history  of,  6-8;  racial 
characteristics,  8-9;  religious 
nature  of,  9-11 ;  worship  and 
life  of,  in  time  of  Christ,  15- 
19. 

Job,  Book  of,  206. 

John,  the  Baptist,  announce¬ 
ment  of  his  birth,  119 ;  preach¬ 
ing  at  the  Jordan,  131-133; 
baptizes  Jesus,  133-134 ; 
thrown  into  prison,  148;  his 
doubt  about  Jesus,  180-184 ; 
death  of,  190-192. 

John,  the  disciple,  called  to  fol¬ 
low  Jesus,  138,  156 ;  at  the 
transfiguration,  201 ;  221 ; 

231 ;  on  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection,  231 ;  at  Sama¬ 
ria,  255. 

John,  Gospel  of,  relation  to  the 
other  Gospels,  47 ;  authorship 
of,  73-74 ;  purpose  and  char- 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


307 


acteristics  of,  74-75;  contents 
of,  75-7G. 

John,  I,  II  and  III,  Ejfistle  of, 
09,  authorship  and  contents, 
103-104,  108. 

Joppa,  5,  2G0. 

Jordan,  The,  4;  131. 

Joseph,  of  Arimathea,  230. 

Joseph,  husband  of  Mary,  118, 
119,  120,  123,  128,  155. 

Judaism,  religion  of,  15-19; 
struggle  of  Christianity 
against,  82,  87-88,  99-100,  244, 
250-251,  263-205,  273-27G. 

Judaizers,  2G3,  273-27G. 

Judas,  170,  221,  223,  245. 

Jude,  Epistle  of,  99;  authorship 
and  contents,  104-105. 

Judea,  district  of,  15. 

Jupiter,  worshiped  at  Lystra, 
272. 

Justin,  Martyr,  G9,  107. 

Justus,  282. 


Kingdom  of  God,  Jewish  idea 
of,  20;  how  Jesus  started  it, 
137-139 ;  its  place  in  his 
teaching,  152-153 ;  his  vision 
of,  ISO. 

Knox,  John,  132. 


Lake,  Kirsopp,  quoted,  79. 

Lamb,  Charles,  quoted,  199. 

Language,  the  Greek,  24-20, 
229;  Aramic,  24-25,  222,  229; 
Latin,  229. 

Lazarus,  raising  of,  208. 

Lebanon,  Mount,  4. 

Leprosy,  symbol  of  sin,  104. 

Lincoln,  referred  to,  IX,  51,  95, 
115,  189,  238. 

Livingstone,  David,  209. 

Locke,  John,  quoted,  274. 

Longfellow,  quoted,  33. 

Lord,  The  coming  of  the,  91-92, 
282. 

Luke,  author  of  the  Third  Gos¬ 
pel,  joins  Paul  in  the  second 
missionary  journey,  277 ;  290, 
294,  295. 


Luke,  Gospel  of,  relations  to  the 
other  Gospels,  47-49 ;  date  of, 
54 ;  authorship  of,  69 ;  char¬ 
acteristics  of,  09-70,  preface 
to,  70-72  ;  contents  of,  72-73. 

Luther,  108,  132. 

Lydda,  200. 

Lydia,  278. 

Lysias,  captain  of  the  Jerusa¬ 
lem  police,  2S7. 

Lystra,  272,  27G. 

Macaulay,  78. 

Maccabaeus,  Judas,  8,  17. 

Maccabees,  19. 

Macedonia,  277. 

Machaerus,  Castle,  190. 

Magic,  books  of,  burned  at  Ephe¬ 
sus,  283-284. 

Malta,  292. 

Manuscripts,  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  108-109. 

Mark,  Gospel  of,  relation  to  the 
other  Gospels,  47-49;  date  of, 
54 ;  authorship,  6G-67 ;  char¬ 
acteristics  of,  G7-G8 ;  lost  end¬ 
ing  of,  69. 

Mark,  John,  author  of  Second 
Gospel,  with  Paul  on  first 
missionary  journey,  270 ; 
turns  back,  271 ;  goes  with 
Barnabas,  27G ;  reconciled 
with  Paul,  271-272,  295. 

Martha,  sister  of  Mary,  208-210, 
23S. 

Mary,  mother  of  our  Lord,  79, 
118,  119,  120,  121,  123,  124, 
128,  141,  142,  154. 

Mary,  sister  of  Martha,  208-211, 
238. 

Matthew,  author  of  the  First 
Gospel,  G2. 

Matthias,  245. 

Mercury,  worshiped  at  Lystra, 
272. 

Messiah,  Jewish  idea  of,  20 ; 
Jesus  announces  himself  as, 
151. 

Miletus,  2SG. 

Milton,  27. 

Ministers,  injured  by  mercenary 


308 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


spirit,  172 ;  yet  should  be 
properly  supported,  172. 

Miracles,  their  nature  and  his¬ 
toricity,  56-59 ;  purpose  of, 
142. 

Miracles,  of  Jesus,  water  turned 
into  wine,  141-143 ;  leper 
cleansed,  164;  paralytic  heal¬ 
ed,  164-166;  cripple  healed  at 
pool  of  Bethesda,  167-169 ; 
centurion's  servant  healed, 
178-180;  storm  stilled  on  Gal¬ 
ilee,  187-189 ;  five  thousand 
fed,  192-195;  healing  of  the 
man  born  blind,  205-208;  res¬ 
urrection  of,  230-233. 

Mischna,  quoted,  16. 

Missions,  foreign,  163,  269-270, 
278. 

Missions,  home,  163. 

Mithraism,  32. 

Moab,  6. 

Moffat t,  James,  translation  of 
Luke’s  Preface,  71;  his  New 
Translation  of  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament,  110. 

Mohammedans,  their  conquests, 

8. 

Moses,  Assumption  of,  105. 

Moses,  law  of,  Pharisaic  addi¬ 
tions  to,  15-17. 

Moses,  194;  at  the  transfigura¬ 
tion,  202, 

Mozart,  124. 

Myra,  290. 


Napoleon,  115. 

Nathaniel,  called  to  be  a  disci¬ 
ple  of  Jesus,  140. 

Nativity,  Church  of,  120. 

Nazareth,  5,  childhood  of  Jesus 
in,  125-127 ;  his  first  sermon 
in,  153-156. 

Neander,  78. 

Neapolis,  277. 

Nehemiah,  8. 

Nero,  54,  292,  293,  294,  296. 

Newton,  27,  35. 

Nicodemus,  interview  with  Je¬ 
sus,  146-148 ;  230. 


Olives,  Mount  of,  212,  237,  245. 

Onesimus,  runaway  slave,  90,  94. 

Ordinance,  nature  of,  133,  170, 
197  ;  baptism,  133  ;  the  Lord’s 
Supper,  217-220. 

Orontes,  river,  266,  270. 

Outline,  of  events  in  the  life  of 
Jesus,  59-61;  of  the  life  and 
letters  of  Paul,  83-84. 

Palestine,  the  land  of,  3-6;  po¬ 
litical  condition  in  time  of 
Christ,  14-15. 

Pamphylia,  271. 

Paphos,  270,  271. 

Papias,  quoted,  62,  66. 

Papini,  Giovanni,  quoted,  143- 
144. 

Papyri,  26. 

Parables,  of  Jesus,  184-187. 

Parthenon,  The,  IX,  281. 

Passover,  feast,  17,  218. 

Paul,  his  Epistles,  80-98 ;  his 
battle  for  the  liberty  of  the 
Gospel  from  Judaic  bondage, 
82,  87-88,  250;  as  a  letter-wri¬ 
ter,  thinker  and  theologian, 
82-83,  97 ;  chronology  of  his 
life  and  letters,  83-84 ;  wit¬ 
ness  to  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  232;  first  appearance 
of,  252 ;  his  characteristics, 
256-257 ;  conversion,  257-260 ; 
called  from  Tarsus  to  Antioch, 
268;  his  missionary  journeys, 
260-206;  first  journey,  269- 
272 ;  at  Second  Council  in  Je¬ 
rusalem,  273-276 ;  second 
journey,  276-283;  at  Athens, 
2S0-281 ;  at  Corinth,  281 ;  third 
journey,  2S3-2S6;  at  Ephesus, 
283-285 ;  at  Jerusalem  and 
Cusarea,  286-289;  voyage  and 
shipwreck,  289-292;  in  Rome, 
292-296;  contrasted  with  Je¬ 
sus,  256. 

Paulus,  Sergius,  270-271. 

Peabody,  Frances  G.,  quoted, 
97-98. 

Pentecost,  Day  of,  245-248. 

Pentecost,  feast  of,  17. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  309 


Perea,  district  of,  15,  208. 

Perga,  271,  272. 

Pericles,  22. 

Persecution,  in  tlie  early  church, 
253,  2G5. 

Peter,  the  disciple,  called  to  fol¬ 
low  Jesus,  138,  156 ;  his  great 
confession,  190-200 ;  his  pre¬ 
sumption  and  rebuke,  200-201 ; 
at  the  transfiguration,  201- 
203 ;  221,  222 ;  on  the  morning 
of  the  resurrection,  231 ;  232 ; 
232;  preaches  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  247 ;  in  prison, 
248 ;  at  Samaria,  255 ;  and 
Cornelius,  260-262 ;  at  First 
Council  in  Jerusalem,  2G3-265  ; 
at  Second  Council  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  274-275. 

Peter,  I  and  II  Epistles  of,  99; 
authorship,  dates  and  con¬ 
tents,  102-103,  108. 

Pharisees,  Jewish  religious  par¬ 
ty,  19 ;  in  conflict  with  Jesus, 
164-106;  168-169,  195-198,207- 
20S. 

Phelps,  William  Lyon,  quoted, 
296-297. 

Phidias,  22. 

Philemon,  Epistle  to,  80,  84 ; 
date,  occasion  and  contents, 
94-95,  96,  294. 

Philip,  the  disciple,  called  to  fol¬ 
low  Jesus,  140;  215. 

Philip,  the  evangelist,  in  Sama¬ 
ria,  253-255 ;  at  Gaza,  255-256. 

Philippi,  89,  277-279. 

Philippians,  Epistle  to,  80,  84, 
date,  occasion  and  contests, 
89-90 ;  294. 

Pilate,  Pontius,  Procurator  of 
Judea,  15;  character  of,  224; 
at  the  trial  of  Jesus,  224-226. 

Pindar,  22. 

Plato,  22,  187. 

Poly  carp,  73,  107. 

Pompey,  captured  Jerusalem, 
14. 

Prayer,  the  habit  of  Jesus,  162, 
221;  nature  of  true,  175-176; 
of  Jesus  in  Gethsemane,  222; 


on  the  cross,  229 ;  of  Stephen, 
252. 

Prayer,  The  Lord’s,  175-178. 

Priscilla,  281. 

Ptolemy,  Greek  general,  23. 

Publius,  292. 

Quelle ,  meaning  of,  49;  71. 

Ramsay,  Sir,  W.  M.,  87,  272. 

Raphael,  124. 

Reformation,  The,  267. 

Renan,  quoted,  199. 

Repentance,  meaning  of,  132 ; 
message  of  John  the  Baptist, 
132 ;  of  Jesus,  152-153 ;  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  247. 

Resurrection,  of  Jesus,  52;  230- 
233. 

Revelation,  Book  of,  34 ;  nature, 
authorship  and  date  of,  105- 
106,  10S. 

Revival,  Wesleyan,  267. 

Robertson,  A.  T.,  quoted,  74; 
referred  to,  118. 

Romanes,  quoted,  11. 

Romans,  Epistle  to,  80,  84,  date, 
occasion  and  contents,  84-85, 
96,  286. 

Rome,  VIII,  30,  84,  100,  244,  265, 
266,  289,  292-296. 

Rubicon,  The,  277. 

Sabbath,  Pharisaic  restrictions 
on,  16  ;  how  Jesus  used  it,  154, 
158-161 ;  conflict  of  Jesus  with 
Pharisees  over,  168-169,  207. 

Sacrifices,  Jewish,  15. 

Sadducees,  Jewish  religious 
party,  19,  22S. 

Salome,  daughter  of  Ilerodias, 
191-192. 

Samaria,  district  of,  14;  town 
of,  5,  149 ;  conversation  of  Je¬ 
sus  with  woman  of,  148-150; 
the  gospel  in,  253-255. 

Samson,  194. 

Sanhedrin,  supremo  court  of  the 
Jews,  18;  in  the  trial  of  Je¬ 
sus,  223-224. 

Sapphira,  249. 


310 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Schaff,  Philip,  quoted,  7S-79. 

School,  the  Jewish  common,  18- 
19. 

Sea,  Dead,  4. 

Seleucia,  270. 

Seleucus,  Greek  general,  23. 

Septuagint,  25,  109. 

Shakespeare,  referred  to,  IX, 
124,  199 ;  quoted,  6. 

Sidon,  19S. 

Silas,  goes  with  Paul  on  his  sec¬ 
ond  missionary  journey,  276- 
279 ;  280,  282. 

Simon,  the  sorcerer,  254. 

Simon,  the  tanner,  200. 

Simpson,  James  Y.,  quoted,  233. 

Sinai,  Mount,  7,  108,  201. 

Slavery,  Paul’s  treatment  of,  OI¬ 
OS  ;  Roman,  178. 

Smith,  Sydney,  quoted,  202. 

Socrates,  22. 

Spirit,  The  Holy,  power  of,  at 
Pentecost,  240-247. 

Stalker,  James,  00. 

Stephanus,  Robertus,  109. 

Stephen,  202;  appointed  deacon, 
249,  began  the  battle  for 
Christian  liberty  from  Mo¬ 
saic  law,  250-251 ;  his  martyr¬ 
dom,  251-252. 

Stevens  and  Burton,  their  Har¬ 
mony  of  the  Gospels,  referred 
to,  47,  48,  50. 

Sunday,  Palm,  212. 

Synagogue,  the  worship  in,  18- 
19  ;  the  Jewish  common  school, 
18. 

Syrians,  8. 

Tabernacles,  feast  of,  17,  245. 

Tarsus,  20S-2G9. 

Tatian,  his  Diatessaron,  10S. 

Temple,  The,  daily  service  in, 
15 ;  Christ's  lirst  cleansing  of, 
143-145. 

Temptation,  of  Jesus,  132-137. 

Tennyson,  27,  125. 

Testament,  New,  best  book  in 
the  world,  IX ;  highly  compo¬ 
site,  human  and  divine;  rooted 
in  the  Old,  12-14 ;  Ilebrew 


contributions  to,  1-21 ;  Greek 
contributions  to,  20-28  ;  Roman 
contributions  to,  33-34 ;  books 
of,  41 ;  order  of  its  books,  43 ; 
canon  of,  107-108 ;  manu¬ 
scripts  of,  108-109 ;  transla¬ 
tions  of,  109-111 ;  character¬ 
istics  and  value  of,  290-297. 

Testament,  The  Old,  background 
of  the  New,  11-14;  quoted  in 
the  New,  13;  translated  into 
Greek,  25 ;  canon  of,  108 ; 
translations  of,  109-111. 

Testament ,  Expositor's  Greek , 
quoted,  03-04,  232. 

Theology,  new,  in  the  teaching 
of  Jesus,  100-101;  251,  205. 

Thessalonians,  I  and  II  Epistles 
to,  80,  84,  dates,  occasions  and 
contents,  90-92,  2S2. 

Thessalonica,  90-91,  2S2. 

Thomas,  the  disciple,  231. 

Tiber,  river,  200. 

Time,  Fulness  of,  35-30. 

Timothy,  convert  of  Paul,  27G- 
277,  280,  282,  295. 

Timothy,  I  and  II  Epistles  to, 
81,  84,  90;  dates,  occasions 
and  contents,  92-94 ;  295. 

Titus,  Epistle  to,  81,  84,  date, 
occasion  and  contents,  94 ; 
295. 

Tower,  The  Black,  181,  190. 

Tradition,  its  place  In  religion, 
197-198. 

Traditions,  Jewish,  10-17 ;  con¬ 
flict  of  Jesus  with  Pharisees 
over,  195-197. 

Transfiguration,  The,  201-204. 

Trial,  of  Jesus,  223-220;  of  Ste¬ 
phen,  250-252. 

Troas,  89,  277,  295. 

Twelve,  The,  choosing  and  mis¬ 
sion  of,  109-172. 

Tychicus,  90. 

Tyndale,  William,  110. 

Tyrannus,  2S3. 

Tyre,  198. 

Venus,  281. 

Versions,  of  the  Bible,  Bede’s, 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  311 


110 ;  Wy  cliff  e’s,  110 ;  Tyn- 
dale’s,  110;  Coverdale’s,  110; 
the  Bishops’,  Reims  and 
Douai,  110;  Authorized,  110; 
Revised,  110;  American  Stand¬ 
ard,  110;  Moffatt’s,  of  the 
New  Testament,  110. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  124. 

Wade,  Dr.  G.  W.,  quoted,  233. 

War,  The  Great,  8. 

Washington,  George,  referred  to, 
115,  238. 

Webster,  Daniel,  202. 


Westcott,  Dr.  B.  F.,  quoted,  110. 
Whittier,  quoted,  297. 

Worship,  Emperor,  32. 

Worship,  true  nature  of,  ISO- 
151,  239. 

Wy  cliff  e,  110. 


Zaccheus,  20S. 

Zacharias,  119. 

Zealots,  Jewish  party,  20. 
Zebedee,  father  of  James  and 
John,  138. 

Zionist,  Movement,  5. 


- 


Date  Due 


BS2361 .S67 

The  making  and  meaning  of  the  New 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00012  7409 


